Some thoughts...

I'm on a roll - 4th post in one day:)

While I was working through my mid life crisis and researching adoption, something occurred to me.

Adoption is becoming quite the thing. Everyone is doing it. Even celebrities - look at Angelina Jolie and Meg Ryan.

But people - including celebrities - are paying thousands of dollars ($10,000 - $30,000) to adopt a child from a foreign country.

Of course, there are also people who adopt American children - including celebrities like Delilah (who I think has adopted something like 4 or 5 older children - besides the children she had herself).

The reality is there are approximately 120,000 children in the United States who are adoptable. And many hundreds of thousands more who are in foster care, and who will become adoptable at some point. Some are older, some are part of a sibling group, and some are handicapped. All need love.

There are so many people out there who COULD adopt, and I'm thinking there are people out there with the love to give, who - for one reason or another - just haven't considered the possibility. People who could swing the extra monthly expense. People with room in their homes. People with love in their hearts.

What if every family who COULD, chose 1 child, or 1 sibling group, to adopt? There wouldn't be enough adoptable kids in the U.S. to fill all the applications. Because 120,000 is a LOT of children. But when compared to all the families out there, it's not that many.

I understand that adoption - especially of older children - is a major life choice.

After my research, I guarantee there is a child out there who could suit every family's abilities. Like I said, there are kids who've just had it rough who need a family to call their own, some with few or no major emotional issues. For the more adventurous adoptive parents, there are the sibling groups. For the more patient, there are the kids who've been hurt by adults, physically or emotionally, who need not only love, but more understanding and patience than most kids. And for people who are truly angels, there are the children who have disabilities, who would thrive with a family willing and able to make the commitment to them.

Take a look at these kids - they will steal your heart. http://photolisting.adoption.com/