*waves hands* I'm looking forward to adopting lots of kids as soon as it's legal in my country! Until then, I'm probably going to sponsor children through programs and try and help out however I can.

Since I can't reproduce by natural means, I think it's a little silly to go through the trouble of artificial insemation when there are plenty of kids begging for a home and loving mothers.

Really, it's a shame that people are 'afraid' to adopt kids- what, are they going to bring shame and misfortune upon your house? Do they carry bad blood? They're kids- they need love and attention and a happy home. So I'll be doing my part as best I can, and hopefully we can one day see to it that every child has a loving guardian.

That's what my friend plans to do... one child of her own and another adopted. Though I worry if the status of their familial ties will effect the amount of love and care given to either child.

Well, I have one biological child and I plan to adopt a child in the future.

However I cannot adopt now because I do not qualify for adoption, or have the funds to pay for it. Adoption is very expensive, and typically they require you to be married first (I am not) and 25 and older (I am not). I would LOVE to be able to adopt from the country I was born in (China) but I am not allowed to. I do not meet the income, age, or marriage requirements.

Don't get me wrong, I have the resources to take care of my biological kid. But they require couples to be more well off than I am, and I currently do not work (my partner does, and I stay home with the kid).

there are so many things that have been posted in this thread that i have opinions on.
first of all, i was adopted. there are six kids in this family; four of us who were adopted.

I disagree with that. I've always felt as though my adoptive parents have treated us all equally; however, the two youngest have taken it into their heads that -this- family is not good enough for them and as soon as they turn eighteen they've decided they're leaving. there's no way it's due to a lack of love or attention as i know they've been given plenty by our parents.

I guess I'm not really sure on this because I was the first one that was adopted into this family; but I never seen my mom struggle when letting in the other children; however.. she's much stronger than your average woman. :) we've always fostered children, and i've known over fifty kids as my siblings in this house.

I'm told ALL THE TIME that i look like my adoptive parents & that i look like three of my sisters; none of which have the same biological parents as I do.
In fact; I've met three of my birth siblings; and my birth mother.. and I look like none of them whatsoever. :)

they're living in foster homes. or orphanages. both of which have to go through a lot of qualifications with high standards before becoming either; and there are supposed to be monthly visits to make sure all children are being taken care of adequately. don't get me wrong, i've seen a few homes with foster children that make my jaw drop, but usually.. at least around here.. the adoption agencies do their jobs and make sure kids are safe.

bad way.

my sister that's eight months younger than me; we didn't get her til she was four and then she was taken away from us by another family that wanted to adopt her and her brother.. turns out they used to hit the kids & if they didn't make dinner correctly or didn't finish eating all of their food at the dinner table, they had to sit there all night until the food was gone. aaaaand they never took my sister and her brother out to do things but constantly took their birth son out. thankfully, the adoption agency finally listened to my sister and her brother and got them out of there, we adopted her and another local family adopted her brother. <3

i've met all sorts of adoptive families though. i've been to the group homes that they've been put into. i've got lots of good stories, but there are always bad ones. :( it really sucks when you learn about them, unfortunately, every system is flawed in some way.

I agree. Not only because I think getting pregnant is utterly disgusting but also because the world is too overpopulated. We don't need more kids hanging around, there's plenty to choose from. D:

I agree with you Heavens_Blade.
I would love to have children of my own, children that take after me, look like me. But with all the overpopulation is just this country, so much worse in others, really. Why not adopt?
I think we should give ALL children of the future equal opprtunity to have a good life, with a good family and a chance to suceed at whatever they choose to do.
Still would love to have some rugrats of my own, but I agree with your statement.

Think about the world. Its pretty big, yeah? Think of how many people there are in the world. Alot, yes? I don't think it would be very easy to make EVERYONE accept the same opinion.
Since men and women became more civilized, after what people can call, the caveman era, having a child together was a symbol of how strong their love was.
Whenever I think of having a baby, I think, "Wow. My and my husband's love has created a new type of love; a new piece of the world; a new baby."
I think, if you can conceive a child, you should. If you physically can't, or fear childbirth, sexual intercourse, etc.. there is adoption.

I know, for me, if I had been adopted, it would always bother me that I don't look like my parents, that I don't know who my real parents are. I would feel betrayed...

But that's just me.
I'm a die hard romantic, and don't think of sex as just pleasure. I think of sex as a symbol of love.
:heart:
...
:sarcasm:
I like that emote.

I wonder if a lot of people even consider adoption when they want a child. A married couple, for instance, just decide on having a baby, and usually consider going the traditional way, so to speak.

Pregnancy get a lot of its value due to the fact that it is a ritual. For many females who choose to get pregnant in being a ritual it has added value for them. A lecturer I have spoke of her pregnancy and how she wanted to go so far as experiencing a "natural birth". She talked about how it is through this experience that she felt a certain closeness to her child. It may seem irrational, although it does seem to be one ritual which has high significance among many different cultural groups. Lila Abu-Lughod (1995) produced a really interesting ethnography "A Tale of Two Pregnancies" where she explored her pregnancy and its significance while comparing and contrasting it to pregnancy among women in Egypt. This is a topic I find somewhat difficult to get my head around, being a male this is not something I can ever experience. Initially I was also under the view that adoption made much more logical sense. Although I have come to respect it as a ritual which has significance to many people.

I think adoption is a great idea, mainly to give a good life to a child who may not have had one. However, personally, I want to have my own kids. I like the idea of my child living inside me for nine months and actually being a part of me and my husband. It just feels really right to me, I don't know. xD

Pros:

* A Parent-less child finally gets a family
* helps the overpopulation problems
* You can be single and still have the family you want
* You can adopt a older child and skip the messy baby part :lol:

Cons:

* Your genes are not passed on.
* Some countries have laws that restrict or forbid certain people from adopting.
* Could still be some developmental problems down the line (the child may not consider you their parent).
* The biological family may try to reclaim their kid.

Hope that was neutral enough XD still, adopting is a good idea, it may just not be for some people.

Okay, First off, people want to have the same genes as theres and you know how it is with blood-lines and stuff. There DNA and how they are related and I guess it is just stupid because the kids who are in waiting to get adopted sometimes don't get adopted. I wouldn't mind adopting any racial kids. I think if you give them love and all that then they would actually accept you as their mother or parents. No matter what your color is, it is just the way people want it to work. They have their own genes and they leave the adoption to people who really care for the children life and education.

Although you did not address the ritual of pregnancy. For many people this in itself can have very strong meaning.

Did not think of that. Most pregnant women i know of hate it and say it hurts their back. :? Still, i was just trying to show both sides.

i agree but my sister doesnt she says when she has a kid she wants to grow old and see herself in her daugters eyes (shes bent on having a girl god only knows why) she wants her little girl to grow up and take over the family. when i asked her about adopting she said she will if all else fails but she doesnt want the blood line to die she wants it to go on...thats sounds korny to me...owell...myself however will be adopting a little cherokee child im only 1/8 but i want at least a half cherokee child

Seems alot of people are concerned about their legacy. I don't know much about mine (dad didn't want me and mom was a addict). Still, i am the last of my line, when i die thats it unless i have a child. Does this make me "weird" too?

I travel a lot and I see kids all over the place that need homes and it breaks my heart. I personally, when I get married of course, would like to adopt a few. I think I might have one or two of my own as well...but I mostly want to adopt.

I am somewhat at a disadvantage discussing this, being a male. Although drawing on what I have covered through my studies, it is certainly an event which differs case by case. Although by pregnancy I was also referring to (possibly more strongly) to the child birth stage. As quite commonly I have heard people expressing that while it was quite painful it was a magical experience. As I mentioned previously this has been a topic which some Anthropologists have gone into, in particular some have used their own personal experiences to compare and contrast different cultural understandings of pregnancy and child birth.

In one reading in particular, she wrote how she felt upset she had to seek medical assistance in getting pregnant. While she was happy to be able to get pregnant she felt she was being deprived from the full experience. My lecturer for "Systems of Healing" expressed similar sentiments when she talked about how during her first pregnancy she was a little sad that she was unable to have a natural home birth. In both examples they expressed the symbolic value these acts had for them.

Edit:While I said it in my post already, it is a really important point worth repeating. Pregnancy is a personal experience which will differ from person to person. To not take my examples as being attempts to explain the rule. But rather demonstrations of what it can mean to some people. Furthermore as I mentioned I am male so this will also influence my understandings.

On the subject of pregancy, as reddeath said, it's an experience that differs from person to person. Giving birth to a child, on some ocassions, can actually draw you further away from that child rather than closer. I knew a woman who was so excited to have her child, but after the birth she didn't want anything to do with him for a really long time, and even now she has a hard time connecting with him despite the connection she felt previously.
Just a quick point I thought I'd make.