The Option of Adoption

December 5, 2006
The Option of Adoption
by Steve Jordahl

There are 112-thousand foster kids waiting to be adopted in the U.S. Can your family help fill the void?

Adam Pertman gets a little tired of hearing well-meaning adults commiserate with him about his family.

“Adoptive parents were told, and still sometimes are, ‘Oh, I’m sorry you couldn’t have any real children.’ Well, I’m an adoptive dad, and my kids look real.”

Pertman is head of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute and hears hundreds of stories just like his everyday. He says adoption has been shrouded in secrecy, and for no good reason.

“Adoption for most of its modern history was a secretive process, right? I mean people couldn’t even tell their own kids they were adopted. That’s pretty secretive. And it is stigmatized.”

He advocates raising children with the knowledge that they were chosen to be a part of the family.

Janice Goldwater of Adoptions Together says there are millions of children waiting for that chance.

“Really there’s no such thing as somebody else’s child. We all need to reach out to children, and not just at the holiday time.”

For those who have a concern for the family, adoption holds special attraction.

“Children grow best in families and under no circumstances should children grow up outside of family units when it’s at all possible.”

Worldwide, there are about 125-million orphaned children in need of a home.

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