Starting at home for adoption
Angelina Jolie poured onto magazine covers in recent years, dressed down in cargo pants and wife-beater, always photographed with her favorite accessories–her newly adopted children from Asia and Africa.
In a trend that has become the new “Hollywood Chic,” international children have become the designer purses of smug activists. Like a Prius in the garage with a Darfur bumper sticker, an Asian child in a celebrity’s arms has become a status symbol of social activism. Yet with all our talk about America being number one, few would believe that even tonight, thousands of children in the Unites States will go to bed cold, hungry and alone.
America is in a foster care crisis. There are too many children and not enough homes.
Many cases that would normally result in the termination of a parent’s rights get thrown out as the child is returned to their abusive parents. Thousands of children are returned to unsuitable homes, simply because there aren’t enough people fostering or adopting within America.
According toU.S. adoption information, in 2002, the last year this kind of data was available, there were 129,000 children waiting for adoption in America’s foster homes. These are children who have been removed from their biological parents because of abuse or neglect and placed in foster homes. After what is usually a long process of trials, parental visits and case workers, the judge will decide what happens to each foster child. While many will go back to their parents or relatives, others will become available for adoption–staying in foster care until a permanent home can be found.
Because most children are adopted between the ages of 1-5, the chances of an older child finding a home go down every year.
According to international.adoption.com International adoption can range anywhere from $7,000 to $30,000 in agency fees. This doesn’t take into consideration the high costs of travel, which many countries require prior to adoption. Conversely, foster adoption can range from $0 to $2500, though many states (including Colorado) provide a subsidy and the child’s Medicaid to adoptive parents.
While money is usually not an issue for many parents looking to complete their families, I believe that there are better ways to spend it. By adopting from foster care, a couple may save up to $30,000 in agency expenses. That money could instead aid in the adoption of one child in America, as well as the feeding, housing and education of hundreds of children elsewhere.
International adoption is a misguided philanthropy. To really change the world, start at home, because American children also need the love of a parent.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Danielle Alberti at Danielle.alberti@thecampuspress.com
