NYHOMESTUDY BLOG

How many of you remember the old comic strip Little Orphan Annie? How many have seen the musical play or movie “Annie”? That cheerful, spunky little redhead is many peoples’ idea of an orphan.

The dictionary states that adoption is “to take voluntarily (a child of other parents) as one’s own child.” But as an adoption social worker, I say that definition is very incomplete.

First, Adoption means that all the legal rights of the blood tie between biological parents and their child have been severed — by death or by the Court, by the parents’ choice or involuntarily due to abuse, neglect or abandonment.

Second, Adoption means that an individual or couple has completed numerous legal requirements to demonstrate their ability to raise a child who wasn’t born to them, and that, in Court, a judge has proclaimed them the parents of a particular child, with all the rights and responsibilities as if the child had been born to them.

Third, a new birth certificate is issued which states the child’s actual date and place of birth, but gives only the child’s new name and the new parents’ names - even though they might have been separated by thousands of miles at the time of that birth. The original birth certificate is “sealed” as if it never existed.

Up until about 40 years ago, babies and young children without parents could be adopted from orphanages - but for a variety of reasons those institutions no longer exist in this country: The American government believes that all children should have the personal attention of a family, so those babies who can’t go home from the hospital with their biological or adoptive parents, go to a foster family temporarily. Due to the increased availability of birth control, legalization of abortion, and society’s acceptance of single mothers keeping and raising their babies, there are many fewer babies available for adoption. On the other hand, the number of adults seeking to adopt has grown in recent years, as many couples delay marriage and starting a family to focus on their professional careers, and unknowingly miss their own window of fertility. Single people - including men - now have the financial ability and social supports to become parents without partners. Same sex couples are openly recognized as family units.

But there ARE children available for adoption today. One New York State agency identifies four types of children: International; Babies; Foster Children; and Photolisted Children.

1. International — Children are available from a constantly changing number of countries, currently including China, Russia, Korea, Vietnam, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Haiti and Ethiopia. The age of both children and acceptable adoptive parents depends upon the country. It is primarily young children, but never newborns younger than 3-6 months. It requires working with a placement program or adoption agency, and approval by U.S. Immigration Services, and may involve 1-3 trips to the child’s country. It is generally the most expensive type of adoption.

2. Babies — Availability within the United States is limited due to high demand and arrangements often being made individually before the baby is born. It requires a lawyer to finalize the adoption. It can also be expensive as the agency or attorney (therefore ultimately the adoptive parents) typically pay the medical fees associated with the birth, possibly living expenses for the mother during her pregnancy, counseling, and various kinds of legal fees.

3. Foster Children — 80% of children in foster care eventually go home to their birth families. The youngest and healthiest are usually adopted by their foster parents, as soon as the birth parents make the decision to give them up. It requires becoming a licensed foster parent through a public or voluntary agency which will provide monthly supervisory visits. It may involve taking the child to visits with his/her biological parents and/or siblings. There is no expense, as foster parents receive a monthly stipend based on the child’s age and medical needs. There is also no guarantee that a child will remain in the home - until an adoption is finalized in Court.

4. Photolisted Children — These are a subset of foster children, whose photographs and brief descriptions are listed in state photo albums and websites. These children are already legally free for adoption because their birthparents’ rights were terminated either voluntarily or involuntarily (usually after years of unsuccessful visiting), and are living with foster parents who have not made the decision to adopt them; or the kids might be living in residential facilities due to special emotional or medical needs. There are hundreds of these children available in New York. They are not young — unless they have health issues — and most have a history of multiple rejections and abuse. Many are sibling groups who should be adopted together. The fees for adopting these children may be waived by the adoption agency, and parents adopting older children from the foster care system can continue to receive a monthly subsidy until the child turns 21.

A few specialized agencies invest a great amount of time and manpower to help neglected, rejected, abandoned, frightened, lied-to, and angry children,

and inexperienced maybe-parents, who often have unrealistic expectations for meeting a cheerful and grateful orphan, work together to make the awesome transition into loving permanent families.

In summary, the happy-go-lucky Little Orphan Annie does not exist, but there are still many children available for adoption who need “Forever Families.”

Pamela DeMan, L.C.S.W.

August 2, 2007