Comments on: Cole Hamels Hopes to Adopt Child From Ethiopia

By: paul

paul — Mon, 11 May 2009 03:17:57 +0000

thats a wonderful gift to give a child,a chance GOD bless Cole,and heidi for wanting to share themselves with a child who has little/or no advantage noe.

By: CelebBabyLover

CelebBabyLover — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 05:33:26 +0000

I agree with everyone who mentioned how difficult domestic adoption can be. I also want to point out that some of these celebs probably wouldn’t be able to adopt domestically even if they wanted to. Angelina and Brad, for example, would probably be turned away because of Angie’s past drug abuse (she has been very open about the fact that she was a drug abuser during her “wild child” phase). From what I’ve read, you can’t adopt in the U.S. if you have a history of substance abuse. I’m guessing Angie and Brad’s family size would also disqualify them.

Madonna would probably be turned away due to her age and the fact that she’s a single mother.

By: sinclair

sinclair — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 23:34:26 +0000

““It shouldn’t be so hard to try to give someone a better life. The government in that country, it’s shady.””

Hmm shady, unlike the U.S. government, Cole?

pot and kettle, pot and kettle.

By: Terri

Terri — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 23:00:24 +0000

I don’t understand calling the government shady because it has put in place a series a requirements that they think helps ensure the well-being of the adopted child.

By: Jo

Jo — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 22:48:41 +0000

Well said, Liz. Creating a family is a beautiful thing, no matter how you do it. People are allowed to choose their own paths, and shouldn’t be subjected to condemnation. We don’t know all the reasons this particular couple chose international adoption, and it is unjust to judge them (and others) for it.

By: Kate

Kate — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:53:38 +0000

It’s common knowledge. I live in the US, and I know many people who’ve tried adopt an infant domestically. There are hundreds up couples waiting to adopt for every infant put up for adoption. If you had any experience with adoption you would know this. Talk to the people on waiting lists before you cast stones at people who just want a healthy baby/young child.

By: eternalcanadian

eternalcanadian — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:43:16 +0000

How would you know that Kate? Did you contact the Center for Law and Social Policy and find out exactly how many of those 120,000 children are older or have a disability?

By: Kate

Kate — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:40:33 +0000

Most of those children are older kids/teenagers or children with severe disabilities. Not everyone has the resources for that. Is it not understandable why someone who’s infertile would want to adopt a healthy baby/young child?

By: eternalcanadian

eternalcanadian — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:33:40 +0000

To all the people that said there aren’t that any children available to adopt domenstically, then how do you explain the number of children waiting for adoption at 120,000 in 2006 (statistics from the Center for Law and Social Policy)?

By: Renee

Renee — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:31:01 +0000

I find adoption in the US to be very complex and quite complicated. I agree with LaKesha as my parents were foster parents, and their adoption of my brother took years, and his father’s parental rights were at one point not terminated. My family ran the risk of losing him to his abusive father. That was due to his social worker’s negligence.

That happens to many families. The foster care system is set up in which many times they return these children despite having a loving and stable foster family willing to adopt them or already in the process of adoption back to their abusive parent(s) or other biological family such as grandparents who come out of the woodwork.

A lot of these child(ren) may have been with their foster families for years. Ripped out their arms to be sent back to parent(s) or family that were abusive or they don’t even know.

A person or couple adopting a child in the foster care system runs the risk of having that adoption disrupted and having the biological parents in the background causing trouble. Especially if they think you have substantial money.

Add in the number of years for a finalized adoption, the red tape, the interactions with foster care representatives, the court appearances, the home visits, making sure the parental rights are terminated, etc.

You’ll see why people go to domestic adoption.

Biology has always been favored by the foster care system in the US. It doesn’t matter the abuse or neglect. They will almost always favor a loser bio-parent over a loving foster care family. Who wants to live their life looking over their shoulder?

It’s not easy for non African-American to adopt an African American child(ren) in the US. It’s discouraged, and I think Dateline or ABC News did a special about this a few years back in which a White couple had two African-American foster care children with a teenage mom who lost them to foster care. They were willing to adopt them, but they were returned to the mom. The toddler called his foster parents, and it turned out the teenage mom was back to her old ways.