Ran into Conservative pundit Michael Reagan today and learned something quite fascinating: there are over 500,000 children living in foster care in AMERICA. He says that approximately 300,000 children have to be rescued in emergency-type situations. Adopted by former President Ronald Reagan and actress Jane Wyman, Michael is committed to trying to better the lives of those children who've been abandoned by their parents.
Though I severely disagree with much of what Reagan espouses, his efforts to assist children living in foster care in the U.S. is highly commendable. Among the things he does, he takes part in a program that prepares thousands of gift bag/care packages to kids in the foster care system: www.mystuffbags.org
I have reported a number of stories about international adoptions. I have been told by adoptive parents that they seek out international adoption because the likelihood of the child finding out who his/her biological parents are is quite slim.
It is getting increasingly more difficult for prospective parents to adopt from other countries. For years, more children--specifically girls--were being adopted into the U.S. from China than from any other country in the world. In recent years, the Chines Government has been encouraging Chinese to adopt internally. The process of adopting from China has become extremely long, frustrating and rigorous. The same thing is happening in Russia, Guatemala and many African countries.
After learning how many children are in the foster care system here, I hope that more people will consider domestic adoption fostering. I know I will.
