MAKING A DIFFERENCE: BIG OR SMALL?
Allan Gindi
Newspaper headlines have read…
"NEWBORN BABY FOUND IN TRASH DUMPSTER"
"HIGH SCHOOL GIRL GIVES BIRTH IN RESTROOM DURING HER PROM AND RETURNS TO
THE DANCE FLOOR AFTER HER DELIVERY - BABY DIES"
"PARENTS LEAVE THEIR TWO CHILDREN BARRICADED IN THEIR HOME FOR TWO WEEKS
ALONE WHILE THEY ARE VACATIONING"
"YOUNG TEENAGE MOTHER KILLS HER NEWBORN CHILD SO THAT NO ONE KNOWS SHE WAS
PREGNANT"
"WOMAN GIVES BIRTH IN RESTROOM OF AIRPLANE AND PUTS BABY IN THE TRASH"
ANLC spends endless and tireless hours in reaching
out to prospective Birthmothers on behalf of our adoptive couples. Touching a
Birthmother's heart and showing her the option of adoption can make the
difference between placing a child in the loving arms of a couple waiting with
baited breath to smother a child with love; or the possibility of that child
becoming the victim of one of the above headlines. The luckier babies are a
part of society's statistics of children being reared in economically deprived
environments. These are the statistics we also dread of reading about:
abandoned, abused children and children living in below poverty environments.
Many times, that difference adoptive parents seek to make can be the difference
between a flourishing and nourished adopted child versus a newborn baby found
in the trash dumpster outside a high school or children abandoned in an
apartment for days without any supervision or care. The children of these
dreadful statistics are real, and what's more horrifying, they are numerous. We
believe it is our job to make a difference in their lives.
But are we really making a difference? Of the millions of children
throughout the world that suffer from malnutrition, lack of medical attention,
child abuse and abandonment, how many do we actually reach each year? Maybe a
couple of hundred? When looking at the bigger picture, it seems like the impact
that the Adoption Network and each adoptive parent makes is miniscule; but
really, it is not!
To shed the right perspective on the difference each couple can
make with an adoption of a child, I refer to a story told by Famous Amos - the
cookie titan:
Amos tells of how he was once walking on the beach and saw the
shadow of a man picking things up from the beach and throwing them into the
ocean. As he got closer, he noticed the man was saving the lives of starfish
that had been washed ashore by the low tide. The man was throwing the starfish
back into the sea one by one. There were hundreds of starfish surrounding Amos
and the man, and looking up the coast there were infinite more starfish to
save.
Amos asked the man, "What are you doing?" "Saving
the starfish," he responded. "But there are hundreds of thousands,
maybe millions of starfish that have been washed ashore along the coastline.
You can't really believe that by throwing back a few hundred starfish in the
ocean, that you're really going to make a substantial difference, do you?"
The man turned to Amos and said nothing. He then picked up another starfish and
hurled it into the sea as far as he could. He then looked Amos in the eye and
said, "Made a difference to that one…"
So, as I read the newspaper or watch the news on television, I am
sometimes reminded of the millions of children that need proper care, food and
salvation from abuse or abandonment. I feel I have not reached out enough.
Then a card filled with gratitude and love arrives from an adoptive
couple. Attached is a picture of them hugging a beautiful, happy and
flourishing baby. I realize that "I helped make a difference to that
one." I am comforted and each parent that adopts can feel that same
comfort too, because each one of you can look your child in the eyes and know
the difference you made was not small at all!
MORE ARTICLES
The Blessing of Infertility
Carol Gindi
The Magical Match
Carol Gindi
The Royal Prince
Carol Gindi
What Kind of a Relationship Should We Have
With Our Birthmother?
Carol Gindi
Email or call 1-800-FOR-ADOPT in confidence!
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"Thank you for dedicating your lives to spreading joy."
- Darren & Michelle
