Adoption awareness

By Dann Alexander 

Growing up in small-town Nova Scotia Canada, adoption was something I was aware of, but never fully understood. Fortunately, I would understand it after meeting Joey and Matt. The two were brothers by adoption and had grown up in a very supportive household with great parents. I remember asking them lots of questions, including whether they knew who their biological parents were, the circumstances that led to them being adopted etc.

We were quite young at the time so I was amazed at how much knowledge they had about their situation. They were very accepting of it and felt lucky to have been adopted by such good people.

Over the years, I have been fortunate to meet more people who have been adopted and to hear their stories. Sometimes, the stories from parents who adopted children have been very moving. They would talk about how they could not conceive after trying for many years, with adoption their last resort.

Indeed, people who cannot have children can still look at adoption as a way to start building a bigger family. Depending on where they live, there could be a number of factors that may turn them off to the idea. These fears are certainly understandable. What is unfortunate is that in many places, there is still an appalling amount of roadblocks and red tape that get in the way. These kinds of obstacles can prevent children from being adopted into loving homes. You can go online at any time and read heartbreaking stories of “almost adoptions” that fell apart because of bureaucratic issues.

I become enraged at any suggestion that the LGBT community should not be adopting children. This bothers me to my very core. No one can tell me that persons representative of this demographic cannot be good parents. This is just ignorance that goes beyond comprehension. Adoption by LGBT couples is still only legal in just over twenty countries. To me this still says we have a long way to go as a society in teaching about tolerance and acceptance.

Those of us who have chosen not to have children can be supportive of those who cannot have them. No matter where you live, there are countless numbers of children all over the world who are waiting to be adopted into loving homes. If you have someone in your life who is considering adoption, support them fully. It is an incredible step to be taking, and one that restores my occasionally shaken faith in humanity.

Based just outside of Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada, Dann Alexander is the Author of Planned UnParenthood – Creating a Life Without Procreating which is available at Amazon and other online retailers. Twitter @WriterDann