The United States of America is a diverse land; different races, different religions, different politics. Sometimes, it's far too easy to concentrate on the things that divide us. However, one point of agreement can be held by nearly everyone. That point is that the future of our country rests firmly on the shoulders of the young. While we may, and often do, disagree about the best ways for our society to nurture our young, most people would agree that a stable, loving, family is the very best situation in which to rear children. Day to day family living, with it's dual challenges of joys and sorrows, is the most concrete and effective way of preparing children for their future roles as active, responsible, adults who will form strong families of their own.

There are lasting emotional and legal repercussions whenever the structure of a family changes, whether that change comes about by the acquisition or loss of a family member. Since the majority of the adoptions in the United States occur informally when family members take responsibility for the care and upbringing of a child (or children) of other family members, most US adoptions bear the burden of two sets of emotional and/or legal baggage. Not only do the new parents have to deal with the changes the child (or children) bring to their lives, but both they and the child (or children) have to deal with the grief involved with the death or disability of the natural parent. It isn't the ideal situation in which to establish a new family. Yet, most of these new families seem to do quite well, after the initial period of adjustment.

Yet, these intrafamily arrangements are just one type of adoption. More stereotypically, a childless couple will petition a private or governmental agency to adopt a baby. The process is involved and profoundly stressful. Sometimes, the wait can be months, or years, before an infant is available for adoption. Some couples become discouraged by the length of the waiting period for a newborn. Some people will give up entirely. Some couples will opt for a private arrangement between a birth mother and themselves, sometimes paying a very large, illegal, fee to a physician or an attorney. Some couples will go outside of the US- usually to Mexico, other Latin American countries, or the Orient, but increasingly to the former Republics of the Soviet Union- to find an infant to adopt. Some couples will choose to adopt an older child out of an institution or foster care. Since over 250,000 U.S. children are in foster care, there certainly is no lack of older children who need good homes and loving families. Compounding this problem of an overflowing foster care system, is the fact that, frequently, unwed adolescent mothers will initially chose to keep their babies, only to find later that the task of properly caring for a child is beyond their means. At that point, the number of children in the foster care system increases by another two, three, or four year old child who desperately needs the love of a good set of parents. Because of the difficulties involved in adopting, the people who choose to share their lives in this way must be commended for their patience. Regardless of the method by which a family adopts a child, these newly formed families are just as strong and loving as any biologically related family.

Strong families are the key to a strong United States in the twenty first century and beyond. Over three million people in the United States have been adopted into good and loving homes. Another quarter million older children still await adoption. The word must go out. Adoption: It's just another way of making a family.

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