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While I don't (at all!) enjoy being in a long adoption process, there is something to be said for a process that has at least some time to it. If a birth parent is relinquishing their rights, they really do need time to make the decision, live with it, and be able to change their mind before the adoption is finalized. The birth father had said in one interview that while he had put the child in the orphanage, he had hoped to remarry and go back and reclaim him. That to me didn't seem to indicate he had mentally prepared himself to fully relinquish his rights. The problem with a near-instant adoption (with regard to relinquishments) is that it is such a major, permanent, life-altering decision. In Guatemala, the birth mother will relinquish her rights four times, typically over months. And as sad as it is for an adoptive family in the instances where the birth mother changes her mind, there has to be some acceptance that she has "tried out" her decision and decided that it was not the right one. Once an adoption is finalized - that's it. Even here in the United States - there is a period of time in which a birth mother can reclaim their child. It is painful and never easy on anyone (least of all a child) if this happens, but I think it is vital for that "right" to be preserved. It didn't seem like the process that was followed in Malawi had built-in these kinds of safeguards (or if they did, they were bypassed).
So sad!
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