Another understandable barrier to adoption is the long wait. It seems as though a domestic adoption in the States can take as long as an international adoption in the Philippines. The wait is long! Each adoption can vary in terms of how long a family waits to get matched or placed but one thing is for sure – it takes a while! And the biggest reason for the wait is the process.
First of all we should say right up front – the process of adoption is rightfully designed to make certain that the couple adopting a child are fit, able and ready to be parents. A lot of “red tape” is actually qualifying information for the social workers to make educated decisions about placing innocent, precious, vulnerable children with the right parents. I’ll repeat myself, the process of adoption is rightfully designed to make certain that the couple adopting a child are fit, able and ready to be parents.
However!!
An international adoption can take anywhere from 2 to 7 years! There are so many factors that determine the length of time it takes to adopt but one thing’s for certain….it shouldn’t take that long! The process is broken! I could pontificate on how unbelievably inefficient government is, I could even make a case for there being incentives to move adoption cases at a slower pace. But those hurt by this are the large number of fit couples wanting to adopt – and those most hurt are the incredibly large number of children waiting to be adopted.
Other than money, the biggest barrier to adoption is the lengthy wait. It’s one of the biggest reasons couples either don’t start the process, or they stop the process. Let’s face it, waiting is not conducive to the human spirit. We want what we want right now. But adoption doesn’t work that way. Truth be told, however, it’s totally worth the wait. What couple would regret the wait if they were holding their newly adopted child in their arms?
No couple who successfully went through the lengthy adoption process and brought home a child they called their own, would say it’s not worth the wait. On the contrary, it is totally worth the wait!
Why does it take so long?? I wish I knew the exact answer. But I stand by what I wrote earlier – it shouldn’t take as long as it does! But it’s totally worth the wait!
