This past weekend, my co-worker's spouse posted a picture of their beautiful tiny new granddaughter with the caption: "Such an amazing gift from God."
What a perfect sentiment to capture the essence of our celebration of National Adoption Awareness this month! Here at the intersection between couples who are not able to conceive and birth parents who want their baby to have more than they can provide lies this amazing gift from God!
And too, here at the intersection of National Adoption Month and Giving Tuesday, which we also celebrate this month, lies this amazing gift of hope from God!
The Growth of National Adoption Month
The first major National Adoption Week was announced by then-Governor Mike Dukakis in 1976. President Gerald Ford made National Adoption Week a national event. By 1998, the week had become so widely recognized and celebrated that seven days wasn't enough; President Bill Clinton extended the weeklong event into National Adoption Month, which is what we celebrate today.
Is it any wonder that this celebration has grown so much? For those whose lives are touched by adoption, the impact of this event is monumental, indeed life-changing!
Adoption at Catholic Charities
The celebration of National Adoption Week is a big deal for us at Catholic Charities, too. From our very first days as a licensed child-placing agency in Kansas, infant adoption has been one of our core services. Since 1964, we have helped to facilitate over 700 adoptions! Click here to read about some of our newest adoptive families.
Additionally, we have provided adoptive family education, post-placement visits, supervised visitation, search and reunion services, private and contract home studies, foster care, and we work to ensure the release of unaccompanied minors into safe homes. In all of these situations, our primary concern is for the safety and well-being of this amazing gift from God! But we also understand that adoption is a lifelong process and an intergenerational journey. We are here to help serve all members of the adoption triad – adoptees, birth parents and siblings, and adoptive families – by providing comprehensive information and ongoing emotional support.
How to Help
In addition to acknowledging and celebrating those whose lives have been touched by adoption, we also recognize those who are still longing to start their own family through adoption. We currently have six couples who are ready and waiting. One of the most helpful things you can do to participate in National Adoption Awareness Month is to read and share one or more of our adoption couple profiles. We often say that the match between a birth mother and an adoptive couple is "a God thing." Sharing an adoption couple profile with friends who may know someone, who knows someone else, who knows a potential birth mother provides more opportunities for God to do the necessary match-making between a birth mother and an adoptive couple in need.
Another way to celebrate Adoption Awareness Month and this amazing gift from God is to make a Giving Tuesday Donation in the name of a person whose life has been touched by adoption. Catholic Charities is a non-profit agency and as such, we are able to keep costs as low as possible. As a non-profit agency, however, we still need funds to serve those in need. We've made it super easy to make a Giving Tuesday donation this year and there are even ways to double your gift! Click here to learn more.
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