When we first decided to adopt a child, we do not consider adoption overseas. Overseas adoption, we knew, was costly, time-consuming, and extremely frustrating. Adoption in Michigan was supposed to be easy in comparison. We have been living in the state for a long time, and we felt a certain connection to the place and its people. A Michigan adoption seemed to have a significance that adoption in Russia, for example, would not have.
Nonetheless, adoption Michigan proved to be much more difficult than we had thought. Apparently, all of the traditional depictions of orphans are inaccurate. Gone are the days when there were desperate orphans all over the country, waiting to be adopted. Most of the children – unless they are special needs adoption cases – are adopted at a very young age. If you want to find a baby to adopt, adoption overseas is definitely your best bet. In many countries, adoption is still frowned upon and there are many unwanted orphans. Adoption in China, for example, is one of the best ways for childless couples to get children of their own.
We settled on adoption overseas, but we were not happy about it. When you are considering overseas adoption, you had better have a lot of money to throw into the project. Adoption overseas can cost upwards of 7000 dollars, not including travel expenses. You may have to take several trips to the country of choice, interview with government bureaucrats, spent months going through the bureaucracy, and still not be able to adopt a child overseas. Adoption overseas is only for the dedicated few. If you do not have what it takes, you should not even try.
Nonetheless, our efforts at adoption oversees proved fruitful at last. It took us more than two years, but we were finally able to take home a beautiful, new born baby girl from China. She was unwanted in that country, where the government strictly regulates the number of children that each couple may have. This is why adoption overseas from China is so popular in this country. There are thousands and thousands of Chinese children born each year who are not wanted in their own country. We knew that our baby would not look anything like us when she grew up, but we did not care. We would love her and provide her with a home, and she would be our daughter.
