Residents of Houston and Harris, Texas, considering adoption should carefully study the rules regarding the adoption process. This is necessary to avoid future problems and make sure that the right decisions are made. Making the right choices in family law concerns like adoption helps soon-to-be parents and biological parents to come up with an agreement that will benefit the child in the process.
Parents in Texas and throughout the country sometimes adopt children from foreign countries. However, records show that the international adoption rate fell in 2012. American parents adopted 9,320 children from foreign countries in 2011, and in 2012 that number dropped by seven percent to 8,668 adoptions.
The decrease of international adoptions may greatly affect millions of orphans waiting to be adopted. According to a director of the Donaldson Adoption Institute, there are a series of factors that affected the adoption rate.
Some parents are having a hard time finding the child that fits their preferences. A recent adoption ban in Russia against the United States also affected the adoption rates. Many Russian children who are not in parental custody may not have a chance to live with a family unless their country lifts the ban. Still, there are other countries willing to allow Americans to adopt children.
Adoptions may not be easy for parents who are deciding to give up their child for adoption. Biological parents’ rights are relinquished in the process and the adopted parents become the legal parents capable of making decisions for the benefit of the child.
To shed light in this issue, the biological parents’ decision may be for the betterment of the child. Some parents gave up their children in adoption because they are not financially capable of raising them. On the other hand, the adoptive parents may need to get further information to explore their legal rights. The new parents should provide their adopted children with utmost love and support that children truly deserve.
Source: Worldmag.com, “Fewer fathers for the fatherless,” Tiffany Owens, Jan. 29, 2013
