Thursday, November 04, 2010

Waiting Children

A couple friends and family members...and even some strangers have asked us why we don't just adopt through foster care.  The long, complicated legal and practical answer to that usually causes eyes to gloss over...so I'll just say this: frequent military moves make it legally difficult.  Maybe someday we can adopt through foster care, but for right now it isn't an option for us. 

But if you are a family who is going to stay put for the next few years foster care just might be an option for you!  On September 30, 2008, there were an estimated 463,000 children in foster care. (statistic here).  There are kids of all ages, and they run the whole spectrum of physical and emotional wellness...but they all of them need homes.  Adopting from the Foster Care system doesn't cost nearly what an agency adoption does and the state helps you out with some of the legal expenses.

Do you think you might have room in your family for one (or two, or three...) more?  You can view pictures of waiting children HERE.   Also, Mrs R (who has a fabulous blog) has a post called Matching Mondays.  She posts pics and short descriptions of children who need homes.  You can find her Matching Mondays posts HERE.

3 comments:

V said...

I think I've just been reading your blog from reader because this is the first time I've noticed the owls. I LOVE your background.

We are hoping to adopt through foster care but know very little about it. Thank you for this post Holly! You're awesome.

Jenn said...

We know two families (one in our ward and the other very close friends) who have been successful adopting through foster care. It's definately not an easy process, but what a blessing for their families!

Happy Herrons said...

Actually the state pays ALL the expenses (reimburses you for the attorney and does the homestudy) and sometimes, your new child continues to recieve a monthly stipend (especially if you adopt an older-than-5 year old, or a sibling group). - just some more adoption FYI!!