Articles

The Truth About Adoption by Debbie Velie

Adoption terminates the rights and responsibilities of the biological parents and transfers them to the adoptive family so the child can become a full and permanent member of the adoptive family.

Adoption is time-honored social institution that helps children who need a family find one.

Adoption is a good choice for teens and women experiencing a crisis pregnancy.

Adoption is a good choice for children.

Options counseling and adoption counseling must take into account the individual needs of each client depending on her social, emotional, cognitive and spiritual needs as well as her physical needs and resources.

Adoption information as well as information on her other options must be presented to every woman involved with a crisis pregnancy to assure that she has the information she needs to make a fully informed choice.

The best environment for a person to experience healthy development is a permanent, secure two-parent family.

Parenting is a choice and a commitment to provide a stable, loving, and permanent environment for a child.

The decision to not be a parent, when accompanied by an adoption plan, is not abandonment.
Adoption is a life transition that can be difficult and emotional; it is not a lifelong grieving and recovery process.

Formal adoption provides security and legal protection for a child that cannot be matched by guardianship or other informal care processes.

There is no substitute for a permanent, loving Christian family.

Adoption-Parenting counseling can be a process by which the ordinary can be transformed into the extraordinary. It is a way to reframe the problem that requires adequate preparation, finding the place of most potential and believing there is more than one right answer.

Taken from "If Only the Hands that Reach Could Touch" (Velie, 2005)