Current statistics say there are an estimated 163 million orphans in the world.
Try for just a moment to wrap your mind around this: if you wanted to look into the face of each and every orphan for just ONE second, it would take more than FIFTY years to do so.
Each year more than 20,000 children age out of the U.S. foster care system without being adopted. That means they enter adulthood with no support, no family, no dad to walk a girl down the aisle, no man to model being a father, no home to go to at the holidays… This happens here in the States, but all over the world, too. A friend who adopted a child from Russia told of driving through the town near the orphanage and seeing the young teen girls, the ones without families and without a way to support themselves, lining up for men to come pick them up for prostitution services. The interpreter explained to my friends that this was typical for the girls who aged out of the system there; the boys didn’t fare much better, as most ended up in gangs.
Friends, this is NOT okay. I don’t believe every person is called to adopt, but every one of us who claim to be Christians are called to care for orphans. For those that are not Christian, perhaps this mandate from God doesn’t apply to you, but these statistics are no less heartbreaking, and you can make a difference!
There are SO many ways you can care for the orphans of the world, even if you never adopt! A few ways you can join in this mission:
– Consider contributing financially to another family’s adoption expenses.
– Pray for orphans around the world, and pray for adoptive families.
– Provide a supportive, non-judgmental listening ear for adoptive parents.
– Help raise awareness of the needs of orphans around the world.
– Respite care! This means being trained and certified to care for foster/adoptive children temporarily, which allows foster/adoptive families a chance to rest and reconnect so they can continue to devote time and love and energy to the children.
–> Even if you are not currently considering adoption, I do hope you’ll read all of my 10 Days of Adoption posts to learn more, and to know a bit better how to help or encourage adoptive families or friends who may be considering adoption. You can always ask questions here in the comments or by email.
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The 10 Days Series is organized by iHomeschool Network. To visit all the 10 Days posts from the 10 Days Series, just click the collage of lovely faces below!
I’m a big fan of authentic conversation and always appreciate hearing what you have to say. Thanks for reading.
22 responses to “Why is Adoption So Important?”
Wow! I haven’t had that visual before. We adopted two children from the U.S. foster care system a few years ago. Another way to help if you don’t want to adopt is to be a mentor for kids who are aging out of the foster system. A mentor can help a young adult find a job and get established in the world.
Blessings,
Dawn
I wanted to say I was adopted by a wonderful Christian family when I was just over 3yrs old. My birth mother had given me up at around age 2. Just after I got married we were able to find her and make contact with her. Largely this was to get a more complete medical history. But she had always wanted to know I wound up in a good home, and was thankful I had. I don’t believe she ever came to know Christ before her death about 2 years ago, but She was so very thankful I did have a good home and when I learned the home I did not grow up in I was thankful as well. Adoption is Important. As an adoptee I can truly say it Can and will make all the difference. ANd to those who adopt, mom and dad are my Parents, yes my birthmother bore me and yes she was there for two years, but while there was a bond, she was not my MOM… if that makes sense.
Don’t worry if your adoptee wants to seek out a birth parent when older. ITs natural to want to know one’s history, but I believe they will always consider YOU to be their parents. I always knew I was adopted, its not something that my parents kept back or secret.
Great post, Jamie! While we don’t feel called to adopt, I want to learn more about how I can help, anyway, in any way. I look forward to your future posts!
Ya!y!!! I’m so glad you talked about this! Awesome!
Jason,
THANK YOU for sharing your heart on this! I’m sure your words will bless many who read them.
Great point, Dawn! Thanks for sharing yet another way folks can get involved!
You’re welcome, I admit I have had a good experience from it and will answer as best I can any questions anyone has.
I know that I serve an Awesome God. I know this and yet he still finds ways to amaze me!
Every time I have a bridge to cross in my life I first attempt to cross it by myself before asking for God’s help. And then, I still don’t listen! Half a dozen more times of failing on my own and I finally say DUH! “Give it to God!”
My husband and I have a 4 year old daughter (biological). We are licensed foster parents and have hosted an exchange student from Germany. We have spent the last four years entertaining the idea of having more children. And always end up with the same conclusion, if God want’s us to have more children then he will give them to us.
Yesterday, my daughter (Charli) and I were in the car together and she asked for a baby brother (this child LOVES babies!) We had a long talk about the pros and cons. She is a very good debater. I ended the conversation with, “Ask your father!!!”
Sure enough, Dad got no further then his left leg out of the car and she bust through the front door yelling “DDDAAAADDDDD, can a I have a baby brother!!!!!”
So after we put Charli to bed that night we had the conversation that we have had time and time again. As my husband said last night “there are so many babies in this world already with no place to call home”. I like the idea of having one child, which of course has its downside. It breaks my heart for Charli not to have a sibling. I have had it in my mind that there are so many things that I want Charli to have and do and see and the only way I can make that possible is by her being an only child. But then I see that there is something missing.
My prayers were big yesterday, they were heavy and yet God found a way to make them crystal clear. I had no other choice but to give it to him. To take a step and let God lead the way. Please God just show me the answer.
This morning I checked my email and there you were…. 10 days of adoption! God? Yep! How am I so sure, because you tend to recognize things that happen often. I serve an Awesome God. A giving God. Ask and you shall receive.
Of course you did not know me or my needs when you blogged, but God did. Thank you Jamie for putting yourself in the position to do God’s work. I have now added your name and this story to my list of GodWinks 😉
That’s a GREAT idea!
As an adoptive mom, I really appreciate this comment. My daughter was abandoned and I doubt she will ever be able to find her BM and it breaks my heart. But if I’m honest, it’s a little of a relief too. My son’s BM is around and it is something that I pray God will give me courage for as he grows up.
In Georgia, there are almost more churches then orphans! Can you believe that?!?! Just ONE family from every church adopting would END the orphan crisis in our state!
I totally get your concerns about providing all the extras for your daughter. I think it’s a normal concern and for sure one that I had. We adopted our daughter and I wanted to give her EVERYTHING she wouldn’t have had if she hadn’t been adopted. But when I got the call for the baby that is now her brother I realized that God provides! ALWAYS! Josie will have everything she needs AND we are teaching her about living out God’s plan in a real way. We have had huge financial blessings that can only be explained by God providing and I think it has a lot to do with being obedient when He called us to adopt. Good luck on whatever your mission is going to be!
Astounding to think about, isn’t it!?!
Rebecca,
THANK YOU for your comment today! I have been praying that God would use this series to touch some hearts. You’ve shown me that He has already answered that prayer! Keep on praying about it and He’ll show you exactly what to do and how to proceed. And keep reading this series because I think there will be much more info you can use or “chew on.” (hugs)
I love your heart for the orphan Jamie. It’s obvious from the comments that God is using you to help others and to open other hearts. Adoption has been the single best thing I have ever done in my life. It has not been without its challenges, but it has been the greatest blessing! I hope that through this series, others would choose this path.
Thank you for this post. My husband and I have been married since 1995 and have longed for kids of our own. I have a daycare in our home to help appease the desire to be a mom. We’ve been on the adoption journey for 3 1/2–4 years now. We’re trying to be patient and wait on God’s timing, but it’s hard!
Here are our adoption websites. Please help us get the word out:
http://www.adoptionnetwork.com/waitingfamilies/show.html/6934/photos
(Watch our YouTube video)
http://www.theadoptionfoundation.com/adoption-unplanned-pregnancy-waiting-families-profile.html?id=7150
http://www.courageouschoice.com/album.php?id=6534
http://www.adoptionspacebook.com/view_photos.html?id=7150
The suicide rate for those that age out of orphanage care is astounding, it’s probably similar in the foster care system. So sad and so frustrating. Thanks for pointing out many ways that people can help even if they are not called to adopt, and I don’t believe everyone is called to adopt, but they certainly are called to help in some capacity. Prayers are more important than we can imagine!
Jen,
YES! Prayers are HUGELY important!!!
I’m glad you stopped by, Stacey, and praying God guides you all the way on this journey!
Thanks for your kind words, Sharla!
I LOVE that you wrote this series (clearly I’m about a week behind in reading along).
BUT–I just want to say that we were so so supported on both of our adoptions by those around us and what you wrote here is really true–God may not be asking each person or each family to adopt–but the impact of coming along side an adoptive family in prayer, with financial support, with love…it is HUGE.
Both of our adoptions brought both joys and sorrows…I honestly wonder how we could-would have made it without the huge sense of love and support and prayer from those around us.
That is truly ALSO being part of the heart of adoption…
Hi Jamie
Orphan is a word that has a primary definition of a minor whose parent or parents are dead.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/orphan
“Definition of orphan 1 a child deprived by death of one or usually both parents He became an orphan when his parents died in a car accident”
You mentioned that there are 163 million orphans world wide and that surprised me. I checked and https://www.unicef.org/media/media_45279.html Unicef’s number is 17 million minors world wide have lost both parents and meet the definition of a true. 123 million have lost one parent and are in the care of their living parent they would be considered half orphans. So actually 17 million is good news because it is a much more manageable number and of course the other 123 million do have family taking care of them.
From what I’ve read there are no minors in foster care that have two deceased parents. I found that a little hard to believe but I am aware that generally minors in foster care do have parents and families to return to after they age out of the foster care system if they cannot be returned to them during their youth due to their parents inability to provide daily care.
The fact that foster youth do have families of their own to return to at least in adulthood is great news and it makes the effort of those who want to help since they know that the family may be unable to raise them to adulthood but they exist and in almost all cases love the son or daughter they lost to the system very much.
It is actually better for foster youth to age out of the system because they can receive the same care, same love and dedication while not loosing their name, identity, legal kinship rights in their own family, contact and visitation with their own family and the best part, no falsified birth certificates. Nothing is stopping a foster parent, legal guardian or other care taker with physical custody from providing that long term permanent family environment they’d give if they adopted. Adoption seems to be more a vehicle for the caregiver to claim that coveted title of parent than it is a vehicle for providing care to minors whose parents are unable to look after them. They have parents just absent ones.
You are writing this article to tell people what else they can do if they can’t adopt, so it would be really great if you told them what they can do other than adopt to achieve the same goals of providing a stable environment for minors whose parents are either dead or who are unable to care for them. The best thing they can do is forget adoption, foster, become guardians or take permanent legal custody. No it does not come with the title of parent but if they are really doing this effort to help minors whose parents can’t raise them, they’ll realize that taking the title of parent is unnecessary and results in the minor having to live an inauthentic existence.