Obviously, I'm a HUGE supporter of International adoption. Hello, I've done it twice. But, I have a HUGE pet peeve, and I'm seeing some fruits of that peeve today.
I hate, hate, hate when agencies, workers and sometimes even adoptive families seem to think that international adoptees won't face the SAME issues as their domestic counterparts.
Abuse, alcohol and drugs, sexual assault, and attachment issues are some of the big issues that I see so many families completely unprepared to handle with international adoptions. I still remember the idiot who informed me that A would require nothing more than love and lots of food for his belly when I asked what issues could I expect to face with him. I didn't buy that nonsense. In fact, I prepared for the worst, including a sexualized child who was a child predator. Praise the Lord, I didn't have to actually deal with even half the issues that I prepared for in my adoptions.
But, I can't tell you the numbers of international adoptive families who get completely blind-sided because no one warns them that these children can have such issues. At least in the domestic fostercare system, its harder to try to bury your head in the sand.
My heart just goes out to families when they get blind-sided because most such families would still adopt their children, want desperately to help their children heal and end up coming from behind because they didn't even know this could be an issue.
I hate, hate, hate when agencies, workers and sometimes even adoptive families seem to think that international adoptees won't face the SAME issues as their domestic counterparts.
Abuse, alcohol and drugs, sexual assault, and attachment issues are some of the big issues that I see so many families completely unprepared to handle with international adoptions. I still remember the idiot who informed me that A would require nothing more than love and lots of food for his belly when I asked what issues could I expect to face with him. I didn't buy that nonsense. In fact, I prepared for the worst, including a sexualized child who was a child predator. Praise the Lord, I didn't have to actually deal with even half the issues that I prepared for in my adoptions.
But, I can't tell you the numbers of international adoptive families who get completely blind-sided because no one warns them that these children can have such issues. At least in the domestic fostercare system, its harder to try to bury your head in the sand.
My heart just goes out to families when they get blind-sided because most such families would still adopt their children, want desperately to help their children heal and end up coming from behind because they didn't even know this could be an issue.
