Looking back on conversations with other adoptive parents and my own experiences with adoption and foster parenting, I feel that there are truly five solid reasons for wanting to adopt a child.
While everyone may have their own motivation to explore adoption, the core of the desire for a family to adopt and what propels that family forward to completing an adoption, should be based on something deeper.
Reasons for Choosing Adoption
- The desire to give a child a family. The prospective adoptive family wants to provide a child with a loving home and family. This includes everything that makes a home a loving place to be and a family that is an accepting group. This desire includes the exchange of family traditions, the sharing of faith, and of memory making moments. It also means accepting the child for who they are – even their faults. Understanding that the child has a history and heritage that also needs to be respected and embraced.
- The desire to help a child move on in life. The adoptive parents have an interest in helping a child heal from past grief and pain, whether this comes from abuse, neglect, being abandoned, or orphaned. The adoptive family wants to help the child start a new life and knows that there will be ups and downs with adoptive parenting and is prepared for these challenges.
- The ability to provide for another child in all ways. The prospective adoptive parent wants to share their home with a child and have the physical space for another child. They also have the time and the emotional space in their heart for a new family member. The adoptive family is also financially secure enough to adopt comfortably.
- The entire adoptive family agrees to the adoption. Everyone in the family agrees that adding to the home through adoption is the right thing to do. All children in the home are also excited about adopting. Going through with an adoption when children in the home are not on board with the plan is not a good idea.
- The adoptive family knows a child in need of a family. The prospective adoptive family is aware of a child who needs an adoptive home. The child may be a family friend, a relative, or a child they met at church or within the neighborhood.
This article makes me think…