Prospective Parents

Look at these pictures. A single woman and a dog. A middle aged -to -older couple. A gay couple. A young couple at the beach. An interracial couple. 


Q: What do all of these people pictured have in common? 


A: They are all real people hoping to adopt children.



Throughout this blog I have really been focusing on Haitian adoption in response to the earthquake. I have approached the topic with a lens focusing on my understanding that interest in Haitian adoption increased due to the Earthquake. However, given this view, I have been neglecting the fact that many families who adopt do not adopt out of response to a devastating disaster, but due to long term circumstances in their own lives: they cannot have a baby "of their own," they have a long-standing belief in adoption, they are single and so on.

What really brought this realization home for me was this website. This is a page of prospective parent profiles and is definitely an interesting read. Each prospective parent (or more often, parent pair) provides a picture and a short introduction seemingly to the birth family. I find the introduction paragraphs rather odd. In fact, I am not sure calling them introduction paragraphs is even appropriate. Most begin with a "Hi" and address the reader as "you" and refer to "your child-"- almost like a letter. However, these paragraphs are by no means letters. They are more like personal advertisements or cover letters for a job ("pick me! I am financially stable, full of love, and committed"). In all, I found it rather awkward.

However, my personal feelings aside, I think that the realization that for many adoptive parents adoption is not a "I'm gonna be a hero and save a recent orphan from a natural disaster" type of decision is essential to my view of Haitian adoption. In a number of my posts, I have been trying to bring home my belief that development- not adoption of Haitian orphans- is the answer to solving problems in Haiti. Now I realize that I still believe that wholeheartedly, but in many ways, this belief is actually not directly related to the issue of adoption. Regardless of the state of development or aftermath of a natural disaster in Haiti, there will still be adoptive parents such as the ones on this page waiting and hoping for a baby.