The last topic I am going to address under the letter “O” in my Transracial Adoption ABCs is "orphan".

Orphan - For the sake of defining the word, if you are adopting internationally, you should know that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has a very specific definition of who qualifies as an orphan (and who does not), and only legal orphans will qualify for an immigration visa and be allowed to come into the United States.

From the USCIS webpage:

Under U.S. immigration law, an orphan is a foreign child who does not have any parents because of the death or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation or loss from, both parents. An orphan can also be a foreign-born child with a sole or surviving parent who is unable to provide for the child’s basic needs, consistent with the local standards of the foreign sending country, and has, in writing, irrevocably released the child for emigration and adoption.

While calculating the exact number of orphans in the world is impossible, this report by UNICEF estimates that by 2010, there could be 44 million orphans.

Truth be told, whether there is 10 million, 20 million or 50 million orphans isn’t really the point. Even ONE million orphans would be an outrageously overwhelming number.

When you look at immigration visa statistics for internationally adopted children, you can see that U.S. citizens have adopted approximately 20,000 children each year since 2001. When you compare 20,000 to millions and millions, you realize that adoption is only touching a teeny, tiny percentage of orphaned children worldwide.



I have said over and over on this blog that international adoption is NOT the answer to the problems of the world. It will not fix the poverty, illness, drought, famine and other tragedies that are causing there to be millions of orphans.

For me, there are two ways to look at orphans. First, there is the big picture: how do we help millions of orphans as a group? How do we help keep families together?

When we begin to care about the world’s problems and start looking for ways to help, that is a start. Everyone can do something. You can sponsor a child so he can receive life-saving medication and an education. You can sponsor a family so they can afford to keep their children with them. You can support groups that provide aid to families and children in crisis.

We need to care, and then we need to do something.

The other way to look at orphans is to consider them as individuals. For me, when you look at just one orphan, one child who has no parents, no extended family, no permanent home, no security and no real hope for a future, then adoption is often the best solution.

Programs that help orphans, families and communities are important and essential. But programs take time, and many children are out of time. They have already lost their families, and they are already at last resort.

Are transracial and international adoption perfect concepts? Certainly not. Are transracial and international adoption without their challenges for the children involved? Certainly not.

Do children who are adopted internationally face loss? Absolutely. Is the loss of one’s birth country and culture a significant loss that should not be taken lightly? 100% yes. In a perfect world, would there be any need for adoption? No, there would not.

But the thing is, we don’t live in a perfect world. We live in a world with MILLIONS of orphaned children. I can’t help but think what the future holds for a world with that many children growing up without love, security, stability and family. What kind of adults will they be?

No, being adopted internationally is not an ideal situation for a child. However, I believe it is a much better option than growing up alone, in poverty, with little to no education and little to no access to medical care, as so many children are living right now.

I believe that the struggles of growing up in a country other than the one you were born in and the struggles of living in a transracial family do not outweigh the struggles that children face as orphans, trying to support themselves and sometimes their siblings, living on the brink of starvation, often living on the streets, being in fear for their safety and being robbed of their childhood in almost every way.

For me, the right way to tackle the world’s orphan crisis is complex. It requires a combination of supplying immediate aid to as many orphans as possible. It requires action that will help prevent millions of more children from becoming orphans. And it requires finding loving, safe, permanent and committed families and homes through ethical adoption for as many as possible, even though those children will just be a tiny part of the big picture.

It is easy to say that children should stay in the country that they are born in. It is easy to say that children should not be adopted transracially. It is easy to point out all that is wrong and challenging with transracial adoption. But what does that accomplish for those children?

On the flip side, parents that adopt internationally have a responsibility to care about the country that their child came from and the children and families left behind. They have a responsibility to do something, big or small, to make a positive difference.

I get told all the time that, "you can't save them all." I am well aware of that. I have adopted seven, and sponsor two...I haven't even affected 10 out of millions of orphans. But I care, and I have made a life-long commitment to helping the world's children.

An orphan is a child that does not have a family. An orphan is a child that is all alone, a child at risk and a child in need. There are entirely way too many orphans in the world.

Ways to help orphans:

AHOPE for Children- AHOPE is a home for HIV+ children (where our daughter was adopted from). Not only is AHOPE caring for HIV+ children and placing some of the children for adoption, but they have started a community outreach program to provide counseling and medical care for HIV+ children who are not orphans, and enabling as many children as possible to remain in the care of their families. Read more about their work here.

World Vision - They offer child sponsorship, gifts to give to give to needy families including clean water, livestock, medical care, etc., and many other ways to help the world’s children.

Orphan Sponsorship International- orphan sponsorship