Foreign Adoption

There has been a lot of press given to Madonna and her desire to adopt a Malawi boy. He is currently undergoing an 18 month transition period where his progress will be marked and the final approval will be given to Madonna and her husband (who he is again?) to adopt this small, African boy.

Now, the boy's father says he never understood the implications of the government documents he signed given Madonna custody over his son. He says he only thought Madonna, and Mr. Madonna, would "raise" his son, but he would remain his child's legal parent. The man, apparently, is illiterate, which might complicate matters if it is proved that the Malawi government and Madonna's lawyers tried to pull a fast one on this poor simple man.

Some agencies have looked down on this so-called adoption. They say children should be raised in their own countries, and by people who are their countrymen. I can agree with that somewhat. Now, speaking as a person who may someday look to foreign adoption to answer the "expiration" of my own biological clock, I believe it is completely fine to look toward foreign adoptions for a multitude of reasons.

Some of these reasons are quite obvious. Firstly, in the United States it is near impossible to finalize an adoption. You have to sift through years of paperwork that only a team of Harvard trained lawyers can fully understand. Secondly, many people are looking to adopt children who are less than a year old. That creates a bit of headache for these families, because over 90% of families seeking to adopt a child are looking for babies. If I can file paperwork in Russia and then six months later come out with a newborn baby, why would I seek to crush myself in paperwork and make the whole overall experience harrowing?

The next part I do agree with. Celebrities, who adopt, may be looking for some glory from the limelight that goes with international adoptions. They are seen as saviors, who aren't pretentious or stuck-up about their families and what is important to them.

I doubt that if I adopt a child the media will care. That's the bottom line!