PERSUASIVE ESSAY: WHY YOU SHOULD ADOPT
Adoption is a great opportunity for couples or potential parents who are not able to have children, to have their own child to love and care for. There are many different reasons people choose to adopt children. Adoption provides a chance for unwanted children to become loved and live a happy life. What would Steve Jobs, President Clinton, or athletes such as Eric Dickerson and Daunte Culpepper have done if they were not adopted? This paper will provide a brief description on the benefits of adoption and how it can help you as well as others. It will also tell about the process of adopting a child as well as popular countries to adopt from.
One of the main reasons people choose to adopt is because they may be unable to conceive children. Others adopt because they are prone to miscarriages and do not want to risk the chances of loosing another baby. Some parents might also adopt their step children or children of relatives who have financial or other problems (Mak 2010).
The process of adopting a child can be lengthy. A ten step overview taken from the National Adoption Center website states that the first step into adoption is to learn about it. The second step is to select an adoption agency. Next, a home study will be completed. The fourth step is to search for a child, then exchange information with the child’s agency. Once you learn that you have been selected for a child, you can then meet and visit with the child. The eighth step is to receive a placement or date you will receive the child. After that is done, you can finalize your adoption. The last step in the process is to live happily as an adoptive family.
There are two types of adoption available: domestic adoption, and international adoption. Domestic adoption is the type available in the United States. International adoption is the type where you adopt from another country. Domestic adoption includes five different types of ways to adopt: closed adoption, open adoption, agency adoption, private adoption, and fost-adopt adoption. A closed adoption is where there is no identifying information about the birth family or the adoptive family. An open adoption is where some form of association between the birth family, adoptees, and adoptive parents is allowed. This can include picture sharing, phone calls, or face-to-face interaction. An agency adoption is where the process is arranged by a public or private adoption agency. A private adoption is one that is arranged through a middle person such as a lawyer, physician, or other facilitator, rather than a licensed adoption agency. A fost-adopt adoption is where a child is placed into a home as a foster child, with the expectation that the child will become legally free and be adopted by the foster parents (“National Adoption Center”, 2011).
With an international adoption, there are two different types of processes. One of them is the Hague Convention adoption process (convention adoptions). This process requires consent from the birthparent or legal guardian. The other process is the Non-Hague adoption process where the child either has no parents or has a sole or surviving parent who is unable to care for the child and has, in writing, irrevocably released the child for emigration and adoption (Katherine at Legal Language, 2012).
The cost of adoption is another important topic. Domestic adoptions are generally the least expensive methods. They usually involve little or no cost and states often provide subsidies to adoptive parents. Agency and private adoptions can range from $5,000 to $40,000 or more depending on a variety of factors such as travel expenses, services provided, birthmother expenses, state requirements, and others. International adoptions can range from $7,000 to $30,000 (The Staff at Adoption Media, 2011).
Adoption is a very positive process that has many benefits to yourself as well as others. Those that receive the main benefits are the birthmother, the adoptee, and the parent. The birthmother benefits greatly if not the most. She could not have the help or money it takes to raise a child or she could also just not be ready to have a child in her life at the time. Adoption also eliminates the need of an abortion, which can put extreme stress on the birthmother. In the case of the adoptee, children are given a multitude of opportunities they may not have otherwise had. Simply being provided a safe home and having parents that love you is a benefit in itself. In the case of the parent, adoption can replace the empty feeling couples have who wish to have a child but for whatever reason have been unsuccessful in the past (“American Adoption Agency”, 2007).
In conclusion, adoption can change the life of a child in need by providing them with a home and a loving family that they can call their own. Putting up a child for adoption is a great alternative to an abortion. Adoption makes it so everyone (including single parents and same sex couples) can have their own child even if you are unable to conceive one yourself.