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NCFA Media : Archived NewsThe Adoption Option for Children with Special NeedsLetter to the Editor, Washington Post:
In her editorial, “The Abortion Debate No One Wants to Have,” Washington Post, October 18, 2005, Patricia E. Bauer is an inspiring example of a grateful mother’s unconditional love for her daughter, just the way she is. Her article exposes sensitive moral issues regarding abortion, prenatal screening, and the rights and contributions of persons with disabilities. While the Bauers’ love for and commitment to their daughter with Down syndrome is admirable, these sentiments are not shared by all parents of children with special needs. Some feel that they cannot handle the additional challenges of raising a child with long-term special needs. Or they simply do not wish to handle these challenges, and feel they have a right to choose not to. But there is another alternative that has gone largely unspoken in this discussion – adoption. Adoption is an option for the couple or woman pregnant with a child with special needs, who neither wants to have an abortion nor feels prepared to accept the challenges of raising a child with special needs. I can report from 16 years as an adoption agency director and social worker that there are waiting lists of couples who affirmatively desire to adopt children with Down syndrome and all sorts of special needs. I recall one incident that involved a married couple who concluded, after giving birth to a child with Down syndrome, that they were not prepared to raise their child and opted to make an adoption plan. The very day they made this difficult decision, a couple in another town, who were already parenting three children with Down syndrome, called me to express their desire to adopt another. Time and time again, with minimal effort, we were able to locate loving, stable families for children with profound special needs. These generous families desire to open their hearts and homes specifically to children with special needs, and they have the means and commitment to provide for their children’s particular developmental, medical, and educational challenges. There are hundreds of adoption agencies and pregnancy centers around the country who can report the same experience as mine. Earlier this year, when word was passed throughout this network that a child born with no arms, only one leg, and missing a good part of his jaw had been relinquished at a safe haven in Florida, dozens of couples stepped forward seeking to adopt the baby. Abortion and parenting are not the only options available to parents of children with special needs. There is also the loving option of adoption. Chuck Johnson Contact: Lee A. Allen 
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