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International Adoption Up: 2008--17,229 Children Came To The U.S.
Nov 13, 2009 
Linda Burke-Galloway, M.D.--
As an adoptive parent, November is a month of Thanksgiving. Not just because of the traditional holiday, but because of the blessing of adoption.
My life was a series of punctuated delays: college, grad school, med school and then residency. I finally got married at age 37 and then immediately attempted to start a family. However, fibroid tumors wreaked havoc on my uterus and the surgeries to get rid them made things worse. The moment of truth came at age 42. The callousness of the infertility doctor still haunts me. The procedure he performed confirmed that I had blocked fallopian tubes. He briefly said “sorry” then rushed off to see the next patient. I vaguely remember calling my husband from my car in uncontrollable hysteria screaming that I was a “barren” woman. This was NOT supposed to happen to an obstetrician-gynecologist.
I went through the classic Kubler-Ross cycle of grief: anger, denial, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance. I retreated into self-imposed exile, feeling like a social misfit. The ability to conceive is the most fundamental core of being a woman. How could my body betray me?
I subsequently threw myself into my work. My patients and their babies became even more precious. As the years wore on the word adoption kept creeping into my husband’s vocabulary and finally into mine as well. It is said that when you take the first step in a difficult journey, God will ultimately take two. That journey ended in Ethiopia via a stellar adoption agency called Wide Horizons for Children. We have been the proud parents of Mamush and Kayamo Galloway for over one year.
Life has changed dramatically. My tenuous relationship with my mother-in-law has healed. My relationship with my husband has deepened. The walls of our home reverberate with children’s laughter. An exclamation mark of happiness stands boldly behind my name.
According to the 2,000 U.S. Census, there are 1.6 million adopted children under the age of 18 living in the U.S. that represents 2.5 percent of all U.S. children. How many U.S. children await domestic adoption? There are a total of 129,000 according to the Administration for Children and Families. The Office of Immigration reported that in 2008, 17,229 international orphans were adopted in the U.S. The largest number of children came from Guatemala (4,082), China (3,852), Russia (1,859) and Ethiopia (1,666).
Thanks Wide Horizons, for the miracle of adoption. Each day I give thanks for the children I thought I’d never have.
Linda Burke-Galloway, MD, MS, FACOG is a board-certified ob-gyn physician who is a champion of patient safety and is on a mission to keep pregnant women from falling through the cracks of our imperfect healthcare system. For over twenty years she has provided clinical services to high-risk pregnant women in medically underserved communities. She served our country through the National Health Service Corp, is a medical malpractice consultant for the U.S. Human Health Services and the federal government has also sought her expertise in reducing obstetrical malpractice cases in high-risk communities. Dr. Burke-Galloway has worked for the State of Florida Department of Health for over thirteen years in direct patient care. She is the author of The Smart Mothers Guide to a Better Pregnancy and is the Pregnancy Expert for LifeScript.com. She is a graduate of City College of the City University of New York, Columbia University School of Social Work and Boston University School of Medicine. She lives with her husband in Central Florida and is the proud mother of two sons. Dr. Galloway is the author of The Smart Mother's Guide to a Better Pregnancy (Red Flags Pub/ 2008). You'll find Dr. Galloway online at www.smartmothersguide.com
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Reader Comments (5)
The numbers you quote are more than just numbers. there are 129,000 children in US foster care who could benefit from adoption while Americans travel all over the world, often taking children who have parents - such as the two children adopted by Madonna.
Why do we accept South and Central American children but not Mexican American or Puerto Rican children? Why do we go to Ethiopia but ignore the African American children here at home who need families?
Do we really believe that children in orphanages ar less "damaged" than those in foster care? Or, do we prefer distance from their original families?
I cry 129,000 tears and more still for the children in orphanages worldwide - the true orphans - those with no parents who visit with hopes to reunify their families, as was the case with Madonna's two. I cry for those left behind, ignored because they are "too old."
Adoption is supposed to be about finding homes for orphans and these kids who need it - NOT to fill the arms of the childless and replace the children they wished for.
I hope you have the courage to print this. I mean you no ill will and do not say these things to be cruel or to judge anyone for the choices they made because I know all too well what it is to be judged negatively.
I am a mother who lost a child to adoption and suffer nothing but heartache every day of my life for 42 years... That is how I know of the tragedy that is every adoption I have spent all of my adult life advocating for mothers rights and the rights of those adopted. I fight to remove the supply and demand aspect of adoption that pits "have" women like yourself against the "have not" mothers of the world...that exploits mothers and commodifies their children to meet a demand.
I hope you have the courage to print this and to recognize that adoption is not just about your joy but also loss and grief...I hope you use this month, especially, to be AWARE of and recognize your sons' losses and give him "permission" to grieve.
You're obviously feeling a lot of pain and anger regarding what you've been through, and I hope you find a way to make peace with it. Directing it at this author and at the adoption community as a whole, however, is misplaced.
I think you put a lot of words into the author's mouth and make a lot of assumptions here. This is a pretty short blog and you make a lot of leaps. You don't know anything about her life, how she handles her children's losses, and how she even came to adopt internationally vs domestically. Neither do I. I do know that her experience is one minute sliver of the global adoption story.
I believe you also grossly mischaracterize the international adoption process, and it does no one - especially the children - any good to portray it as such. It's also sad that so many people turn this into a domestic vs. international argument, taking sides when both programs have their pros and cons and each has its place. Also, this is not to say there isn't exploitation in the world - there is with domestic adoption as well - but good agencies work to ensure that it doesn't happen on their watch, and they provide humanitarian efforts in addition to adoption services. They are certainly not out to grab babies from poor people, for God's sake!!
And just as you wouldn't want people to stereotype birthmothers, please don't do the same with adoptive parents. Please also realize that a lot has changed in the 42 years you speak of. Maybe if you met with and spoke with some adoption counselors you would have a better understanding of the approach and education that go on today. My own experience, just in this year, does not come close to resembling what you describe.
I wish you peace of mind.
Prior to attending medical school, I was an Ivy-League trained social worker with a Masters degree who entered the social work field for a myriad of reasons. I have first-hand knowledge about the U.S. adoption and foster care system. My late MOTHER gave birth to two children that she never had the opportunity to raise. One child became a physician and revered her until the day she died; the other child shunned her like the plague. So don't you DARE attempt to project your anger towards me because of your own feelings of helplessness and despair.
My childhood was challenging. The life of my orphaned children prior to their adoption was challenging as well. However, we refuse to play the role of victims. We've learned to transform our challenges into victories.
I strongly encourage you to find your "lost" daughter and heal those open wounds. A good therapist would be helpful as well.