An Interview

One of the requirements of the adoption courses we are taking is interviewing a family about their personal adoption experiences.  How fun it was for me to discover that one of my college classmates had adopted four children from China.  Paul's wife Kimberlie was kind enough to oblige me and tell me all about the realities of adoption.  It was nice to hear, in some ways, that there will be many challenges to face at the beginning (by beginning read first 2-3 years).  It is pretty difficult to fight a romantic view of adoption.  After all, it is kind of romantic to help an orphan and to give them shelter and to love them.  But it is also good to be reminded that you are dealing with a human soul in all its complexity.  And though you want to bond immediately with your child, this is unlikely to happen.  One always thinks about the child struggling to attach to a new family but the reality is the parent may have problems attaching to their adoptive child as well. A scary thought but something one must be prepared for or at least know that it is a possibility. Anyway, thank you Kimberlie for your time and your insights.