By Michael Monroe
“Why do you want to adopt?” I asked Joanie and Don innocently enough. It’s a question we ask virtually everyone at some point as they open up to us about wanting to pursue adoption. She replied, “Because there are so many kids out there who need a home and a family. I think we can save one.” Her response struck a chord in me.
If we’re honest what Joanie expressed has probably occurred to each of us in some way or another. As we listen to the heartbreaking stories of orphans and waiting children or see firsthand the realities of hopelessness and despair in orphanages, this simple, yet deeply compassionate notion of rescuing a child with a difficult past and an uncertain future likely floods our hearts and minds. And yet, this heartfelt sentiment is at best an incomplete motivation for deciding to travel the adoption journey.
Read the entire version of Saved By Adoption, reprinted from the June 2009 issue of Adoption Today magazine.