Myth vs Fact and Reality in Adoption!
MYTH: There are very few babies being placed for adoption.
REALITY: 20,000 or more U.S.-born infants are placed for adoption each year—as many or more than the number of international adoptions yearly.
MYTH: Adoption is outrageously expensive, out of reach for most families.
REALITY: Adoption is often no more expensive than giving birth. Costs to adopt domestically average $15,000, before the $10,000 Adoption Tax Credit and benefits that many employers offer.
MYTH: It takes years to complete an adoption.
REALITY: The average time span of adoption is one to two years. The majority of domestic and international adopters who responded to a recent poll by Adoptive Families Magazine completed their adoptions in less than a year.
MYTH: Birthparents can show up at any time to reclaim their child.
REALITY: Once an adoption is finalized, the adoptive family is recognized as the child’s family by law. Despite the publicity surrounding a few high-profile cases, post-adoption revocations are extremely rare.
MYTH: Birthparents are all troubled teens.
REALITY: Most birthparents today are over 18, but lack the resources to care for a child. It is generally with courage andlove for their child that they terminate their parental rights.
MYTH: Adopted children are more likely to be troubled than birth children.
REALITY: Research shows that adoptees are as well-adjusted as their non-adopted peers. There is virtually no difference in psychological functioning between them.
MYTH: Open adoption causes problems for children.
REALITY: Adoptees are not confused by contact with their birthparents. They benefit from the increased understanding that their birthparents gave them life but their forever families take care of and nurture them.
MYTH: Parents can’t love an adopted child as much as they would a biological child.
REALITY: Love and attachment are not the result of nor guaranteed by biology. The intensity of bonding and depth of emotion are the same, regardless of how the child joined the family.
Myth: There are not enough loving families available who want to adopt children from foster care.
Fact: Four in 10 American adults have considered adoption, according to a National Adoption Attitudes Survey funded by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. That translates into more than 80 million Americans.
Myth: There’s too much red tape and bureaucracy involved in adopting a child from foster care.
Fact: Congress has streamlined the foster care adoption process through enactment of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997. This law stipulates that children in foster care, who cannot be reunited with their birth parents, are freed for adoption and placed with permanent families as quickly as possible.
Myth: Adopting a child from Foster Care is expensive.
Fact: Actually, adopting children from foster care is virtually free! Most agencies do not charge for the services they provide to families who are adopting a child from foster care. Congress has also made federal tax credits available for Foster Care Adoptions to offset fees, court costs, legal and travel expenses. In 2003, the Adoption Tax Credit was increased to $10,000!
Myth: Adoptive parents must be a modern version of June and Ward Cleaver.
Fact: Prospective adoptive parents do not have to be rich, married, own a home, or be of a certain race or age to become an adoptive parent (One-third of adoptions from foster care are by single parents). Love, patience, a good sense of humor and the commitment to be a good parent are the most important characteristics.
Myth: All children in Foster Care have some kind of physical, mental or emotional handicap; that's why they're classified as "special needs".
Fact: The term “special needs” is somewhat misleading, because it can mean that the child is older, a minority or requires placement with his/her siblings. While some children are dealing with physical or emotional concerns, just like other children, they need the nurturing support only a permanent family can provide. Many children in foster care are in the “system” because their birth parents weren’t protective and nurturing caretakers—not because the children did anything wrong or because there is something wrong with them.
Myth: Children in Foster Care have too much baggage
Fact: This is one of the biggest myths of all. Children have enormous potential and given love, patience and a stable environment often thrive. Ask former US Senator, Ben Nighthorse Campbell or Minnesota Viking Dante Culpepper. They were both foster children who were adopted by loving, caring familes!
REALITY: 20,000 or more U.S.-born infants are placed for adoption each year—as many or more than the number of international adoptions yearly.
MYTH: Adoption is outrageously expensive, out of reach for most families.
REALITY: Adoption is often no more expensive than giving birth. Costs to adopt domestically average $15,000, before the $10,000 Adoption Tax Credit and benefits that many employers offer.
MYTH: It takes years to complete an adoption.
REALITY: The average time span of adoption is one to two years. The majority of domestic and international adopters who responded to a recent poll by Adoptive Families Magazine completed their adoptions in less than a year.
MYTH: Birthparents can show up at any time to reclaim their child.
REALITY: Once an adoption is finalized, the adoptive family is recognized as the child’s family by law. Despite the publicity surrounding a few high-profile cases, post-adoption revocations are extremely rare.
MYTH: Birthparents are all troubled teens.
REALITY: Most birthparents today are over 18, but lack the resources to care for a child. It is generally with courage andlove for their child that they terminate their parental rights.
MYTH: Adopted children are more likely to be troubled than birth children.
REALITY: Research shows that adoptees are as well-adjusted as their non-adopted peers. There is virtually no difference in psychological functioning between them.
MYTH: Open adoption causes problems for children.
REALITY: Adoptees are not confused by contact with their birthparents. They benefit from the increased understanding that their birthparents gave them life but their forever families take care of and nurture them.
MYTH: Parents can’t love an adopted child as much as they would a biological child.
REALITY: Love and attachment are not the result of nor guaranteed by biology. The intensity of bonding and depth of emotion are the same, regardless of how the child joined the family.
Myth: There are not enough loving families available who want to adopt children from foster care.
Fact: Four in 10 American adults have considered adoption, according to a National Adoption Attitudes Survey funded by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. That translates into more than 80 million Americans.
Myth: There’s too much red tape and bureaucracy involved in adopting a child from foster care.
Fact: Congress has streamlined the foster care adoption process through enactment of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997. This law stipulates that children in foster care, who cannot be reunited with their birth parents, are freed for adoption and placed with permanent families as quickly as possible.
Myth: Adopting a child from Foster Care is expensive.
Fact: Actually, adopting children from foster care is virtually free! Most agencies do not charge for the services they provide to families who are adopting a child from foster care. Congress has also made federal tax credits available for Foster Care Adoptions to offset fees, court costs, legal and travel expenses. In 2003, the Adoption Tax Credit was increased to $10,000!
Myth: Adoptive parents must be a modern version of June and Ward Cleaver.
Fact: Prospective adoptive parents do not have to be rich, married, own a home, or be of a certain race or age to become an adoptive parent (One-third of adoptions from foster care are by single parents). Love, patience, a good sense of humor and the commitment to be a good parent are the most important characteristics.
Myth: All children in Foster Care have some kind of physical, mental or emotional handicap; that's why they're classified as "special needs".
Fact: The term “special needs” is somewhat misleading, because it can mean that the child is older, a minority or requires placement with his/her siblings. While some children are dealing with physical or emotional concerns, just like other children, they need the nurturing support only a permanent family can provide. Many children in foster care are in the “system” because their birth parents weren’t protective and nurturing caretakers—not because the children did anything wrong or because there is something wrong with them.
Myth: Children in Foster Care have too much baggage
Fact: This is one of the biggest myths of all. Children have enormous potential and given love, patience and a stable environment often thrive. Ask former US Senator, Ben Nighthorse Campbell or Minnesota Viking Dante Culpepper. They were both foster children who were adopted by loving, caring familes!
Views: 27
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by miki esplin on -
one thing and only thing i may disagree, if u adopt from foster care it is "free" but if the need level is high , u will reach a huge amounts of expenses where insurance or medicare wont help. t
i like this post
(:
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Permalink Reply by Andrea Allen on -
Now, how do we get the rest of the world to read this post? Thanks for posting.
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Permalink Reply by Kristen on -
I got that statistic a couple years ago from AdoptiveFamilies.com
"MYTH #1: THERE ARE NO INFANTS AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION IN THE U.S.
Take, for instance, the widespread belief that, as one woman assured me, “there are no babies” being placed for adoption in the United States. While domestic adoption statistics are hard to come by, the Alexandria, Virginia-based National Council for Adoption estimates that 20,000 or more U.S.-born infants are
placed for adoption every year. That’s more than the 19,000 or so international adoptions annually. To be sure, infant domestic placements are less common than they were 30 years ago. [To understand why, see
the interview with adoption historian Barbara Melosh ...] But there is a substantial community of families formed through domestic adoption in this country, and their story goes largely untold."
Here is that article: http://www.comeunity.com/adoption/adopt/interview-adoptionhistory.html
Stefanie Grawe said:MYTH: There are very few babies being placed for adoption.
I think more of the fact is that there are more girls out keeping their babies than placing for adoption. Not that there are so many babies being placed. I'm trying to look for statistic for that.
When they become pregnant, very few teens choose to place their children for adoption. In a 1995 survey, 51% of teens that become pregnant give birth; 35% seek abortions; 14% miscarry. Less than 1% choose to place their children for adoption. (ChildTrends, 1995)
That was in 1995. It could've gone up.
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Permalink Reply by Kathie Ebaugh on -
I am active in our local foster parent association and we would love to know the answer. Since the system is so poorly funded and the money really needs to go to the kids, there is little money for marketing. If it hadn't been a colleague we would have never learned about the wonderful adoption opportunities available in foster care and then never been blessed by our little man.
Andrea Allen said:Now, how do we get the rest of the world to read this post? Thanks for posting.
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Permalink Reply by Missy Wieland on -
myth: everything you read in the court papers about the family is true
Fact: we found many mistakes in the court papers and courts argeed thay where mistakes but did not fit the paperwork
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