November is National Adoption Month, a month set aside each year to raise awareness about the adoption of children and youth from foster care. As an adoptive family, my wife Adrienne and myself have supported friends to also consider adoption as a way of having the incredible opportunity to be a parent.
Adrienne wrote the following article this year to spread the word about this important topic, Adoption!
NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH
BY ADRIENNE PASKAL, RN, MA, M ED.
As an adoptive mother of 3 teenagers, I first acknowledge and thank all the birth parents who were aware that they could not provide for their children and were willing to have them be adopted. If not for these birth parents, couples like my husband and I could not be parents. In California alone there were 20,832 foster children (North American Council on Adoptable Children* www,nacac.org*-December 2009) waiting to be adopted.
Foster care was intended to be temporary, but many California children remain in care for years. The average length of stay in foster care is about two and a half years. A law is in place where all children 3 and under are placed in foster/adopt homes. This means that the foster family is willing to adopt if the child becomes adoptable. As you can imagine, older children are not as likely to be adopted as younger children.
After adopting two infants, we decided we wanted to become foster parents as we had heard there were many babies who needed placements. We had not intended to adopt a third time. Our youngest son came to us at 5 months old with multiple problems. He had already had two placements.
Social Services’ goal is to reunite families and they work with the birth parents to assist them in doing what is needed. Birth parents have about 18 months to problemsolve their issues. We thought our foster child would be returning to his birth family, but they were not able to provide what was needed. At 18 months of age, he became adoptable; we loved him and definitely wanted him. We were advised if we didn't want to adopt him he would be placed in yet another foster home. It took OT, PT, speech therapy and Hellerwork before he was able to walk and talk.
I share our story with you to let you know that anything is possible. Our son is now 15 years old, runs cross country and is a freshman in high school. This is a picture of him running in a cross country meet a few weeks ago!
The best I can share is the words from an adopted child who said "It is great to have a family of my own who love me and are willing to take care of me". If you have ever thought about adopting, I encourage you to inquire about opening your hearts and your home. Most children adopted in California are adopted by foster parents and relatives. The state of California is committed to finding homes for all children. If you are interested in finding out more, please feel free to contact me at home (707) 766-9795.
I’M ADOPTED! (DID YOU KNOW?)
Edward Albee (Playwright)
Faith Hill (Country Singer)
Langston Hughes (poet and writer)
Alexander the Great (King of Macedonia, 356-323 B.C.)
Jesse Jackson (Minister)
Aristotle (Philosopher)
Steven Jobs (Entrepreneur)
John J Audubon (Naturalist)
John Lennon (Musician)
Ingrid Bergman (Actress)
Jim Lightfoot (Politician)
Art Linkletter (Comedian)
Halle Berry (Actress)
Greg Louganis (Diver)
Richard Burton (Actor)
Malcolm X (Civil Rights Leader)
Robert Byrd (Politician)
Nelson Mandela (Politician)
James Michener (Author)
George Washington Carver (Inventor)
William Clinton (Former President)
Marilyn Monroe (Actress)
Nat King Cole (Singer)
Jim Palmer (Athlete)
Edgar Allen Poe (Poet, Writer)
Duante Culpepper (Football Player)
Priscilla Presley (Actress)
Charles Dickens (Writer)
Nancy Reagan (Former First Lady)
Eleanor Roosevelt (Former First Lady)
Larry Ellison (Entrepreneur)
Gerald Ford (Former President)
Melissa Gilbert (Actress)
Buffy Sainte-Marie (Musician, Actress)
Mark Twain (Humorist, Writer)
Scott Hamilton (Figure Skater)
Leo Tolstoy (Writer)
Dave Thomas (Entrepreneur/Wendys')
Friday, December 24, 2010 at 3:09AM 