Domestic & International Adoption (FM)

While there were 4.3 million births in the United States in 2007, about 20,000 of those children were adopted domestically, and another 20,000 children were adopted from overseas. So I wanted to talk about adoptions, the differences in domestic versus international, as well as the changes in certain countries now being closed for adoptions from the U.S. based on the Hague Convention. I talked with Rick Gibson with the Children's Home Society and Family Services Organization who has partnered with over a dozen countries to find loving homes for their children. He shared with me that Ethiopia and Russia are more open to U.S. adoption, while Guatamala and China are either closed or are slowing down the adoption process.

Jeanne Tate, an adoption attorney and founder of Heart of Adoptions also enlightened me about the huge number of children available for adoption through the Foster Care System in the United States. Helping these children is a passion of mine. When I lived in Florida I worked as a Guardian ad Litem, representing kids within the foster care system makings sure they received the services they needed and pushing them through the system faster. I then created a non-profit organization called For The Chidlren, to help children get adopted out of the system by creating a color catalog showing their beautiful faces that was distributed all over Hillsborough County, Florida. This was back in the early 90's before foster care had any marketing programs in place.

It seems, however, that although more marketing programs are in place, there is still a breakdown in helping prospective parents adopt these children out of the system and give them the loving and supportive homes that they truely desire.

Right now approximately 125,000 children are available for adoption in foster care and it doesn't cost anything to adopt these children, versus the thousands of dollars involved in a private adoption. Plus, the government is also providing tax credits, taking care of the cost of a home study, and funding for college tuition.

Contact Jeanne Tate to learn more if you are interested in adopting a child, want to provide a loving home to a child and really make a difference in their life!(www.FloridaAdoptionAgency.com)