[Quesita]

Wow. I am going to express a minority opion here. I would like to start out by saying that I support most of the goals expressed by the UN. However, because the UN is powerless, its goals are irrelevant.

One of its goals is to eliminate poverty. Most of us know that the reason that children are being relinquished by their mothers in Guatemala is because the mothers are too poor to feed their children. This is unjust, but it is a reality. Ultimately, it would be better to help support the economy of Guatemala grow, and work to end the terrible discrimination which exists against the Mayan people. The social inequities within Guatemala are beyond anything that most of us can comprehend.

This said, the poverty is a reality that exists. Most of the children that we adopt would have ended up on the streets picking garbage in search of food at a very young age, if they had lived that long. Would it be better to end the unjust social structures that push so many children to the streets, ripping apart families, and destroying the fabric of the ancient Mayan culture? Absolutely. Is that going to happen in our lifetimes? Probably not. Is it going to happen in the childhood of the children that are born this year. Absolutely not. Is it better to offer loving homes to these children who are relinquished by their mothers? Absolutely. Is adoption a good long term solution to the social and economic problems within Guatemala? No.

Is adoption a good solution for the child whose mother is probably pregnant now, and who will some time in the next few months relinquish this child? This child, who is probably yet unborn, and who will appear to me in the coming months as a picture in a referral? This child who will live in my home, learn to swim and snorkel, take dance and music and art classes. This child who will get an amazing education, travel the world, eat healthy foods in ample supply? Or would it be better to leave this child with her birth mother, who would love her, feed her when she could, and send her to the streets when she couldn't? I believe, that in these terrible circumstances, adoption of a child who is willingly relinquished is the best short term solution. But not the best long term solution.

It is an unjust system. The UN is pointing out the injustice. Will the UN bring justice to the world? I suspect not. But do I blame them for their mission. Absolutely not.