I was catching up on my reading this past weekend and found a very interesting article on adoption in America. According to the 2000 Census, there were more than 2.1 million adopted children living in U.S. households (exclusive of more than 4 million adopted stepchildren).
It's interesting to note that nearly one-third of children adopted from foster care in 2001 were adopted by single women. Single parenting has become so accepted and encouraged in this country that the AdoptUSKids project (a division of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' Children's Bureau) is launching an initiative to recruit as many qualified participants as they can find.
Imagine the commitment and sacrifice it takes to adopt a child... provide a loving home... as a single parent. The delicate balancing act required to provide love and stability. One-third of these parents are single women - how can you connect with this group? What can you provide that might make their lives a little easier and honor what they do each day? Much of what I teach in my seminar revolves around providing a place where women can share with each other - the building of small "communities." There's a tremendous opportunity here... will someone step up and investigate?
I'm one of those single parents with two adopted kids - and while a formal gathering spot is intriguing, I'm already involved in many - whether through my adoption agency, self-selected through friends (most are other single moms who have adopted as well), the group I travelled with, and more! Plus - single parent groups for single who adopted from the country I did. It's interesting, but most of my friends are now single adoptive parents with kids from China! It is not only acceptable, but a fantastic way to build a family!
Posted by: Lara | June 03, 2004 at 01:43 PM