There are children who need homes.
There are parents with loving hearts who spring into action to adopt them.
There are honest agencies and facilitators who help bring them together.
And then there are those who get in the way. The parents who abuse their child, or "send the child back" by himself on a plane. The agencies who list children who are not available in order to collect fees while stringing along parents who could be adopting an available child. The child traffickers who steal children who are loved by their biological families in order to collect fees from well-intentioned parents, and cause terrible loss for all parties involved.
Several bloggers are pleading on behalf of an adoptive family in Ghana, who seem to have run afoul of the authorities. I am certain that the parents are innocent victims. I pray for their full success in getting home with all their children. However, we do not know all the facts in the case. It is possible that the 4 siblings they are adopting actually are victims of child trafficking. It is possible that someone along the way was corrupt, and stole these children from their family, allowing these adoptive parents to think they were available. The fact is that adoption is full of such risks, whether domestic or international. One must go into it with open eyes, and be wary of potential corruption. So many predators out there are trying to take advantage of starry-eyed adoptive parents!
This is not a reason no to adopt, of course! Just as the risks of pregnancy are not a reason to not have a baby! The risks must be assessed and accounted for, and not ignored or dismissed.
How do you pick a course of action with incomplete information?
How do you know whom to trust?
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