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Health & Fitness

Blog: ChildDrenched -- All Children Deserve a Family

Adoption via any path can be rewarding for adoptive parents and especially for the children, who all need and deserve a happy home.

An interesting side effect of publishing my memoir is the number of people I have encountered who tell me about their own adoptions.  People I have known or worked with for years have connections to adoption that I never knew about. Learning about their experiences is another gift I have received after adopting my own daughter. This week, I had the pleasure of being introduced to Amara, a non-profit organization in Seattle, which works to provide “a home for every child”.  Amara, which began 92 years ago as a small, neighborhood home for unwed mothers, now supports foster, adoptive, and birthparents to create and support stable, loving homes for vulnerable children. Amara is admired and supported by some of the most generous sponsors and families in Seattle.

The countless stories of children who have been “saved” by the efforts of Amara are stunning. Children as young as two years old have been in as many as four different foster homes in their short lives. Connecting children who have been orphaned, neglected, or abused to people who want to devote their lives to supporting and loving these children, Amara is making lives better for all involved. Couples who have not had the opportunity to have children of their own are enjoying becoming parents and the joy that children can bring into a home. I was shown a video of one couple who has adopted seven foster children and are enjoying every minute of the crazy, but loving household.

Another family working with Amara adopted three siblings who were in the foster care system who might have been placed in separate homes. 70% of children in the foster care system have a sibling in foster care as well, but only 30% are placed together. That family of five is thriving and the parent said, “People have said, ‘wow they’re so blessed to have you’ and I say ‘you don’t understand, we’re so blessed to have them!’ We are definitely the lucky ones.”

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As an adoptive parent of an infant, I often wonder what might have happened to my daughter if her birthmother hadn’t been so responsible during her pregnancy about finding a good home for her. Instead of enjoying school, athletics and learning to play piano at eleven years old, she might have been shuttled to different foster homes struggling to find stability, not to mention a loving family.

Although my story does not include foster parenting, everyone’s dreams of a family can be fulfilled through unexpected ways. Adoption was never in my life plan as I grew into an adult. No one expects to confront infertility, <read more>

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