Adoption

Several days ago I posted something about Baby Marianne, my neice (by my cousin). I even posted something about "borrowing" her for a day or two to take care of her and take her somewhere for fun. About a week ago my Aunt (Marianne's grandma) jokingly said "Akala ko ba kukunin mo na si Marianne?" (I thought you were going to take Marianne with you?) and also in jest I replied "Akin na!" (Give her to me!) and laughed. Since my aunt laughed also and my cousin was present during this exchange and she laughed with us, I didn't think about it again. Last Sunday, when Charlie and I went to my parents home after Easter Sunday Mass, Marianne was there, like always! And my mom was telling me that my cousin told them that she was willing to "give" Marianne to us to take care of.... I was, of course, surprised because Marianne is her first and still one and only child. Both she and her husband had work and I never expected that statement from her, even though Marianne often spends time with my parents and sisters. I was thinking, this was only the case because she and hubby were busy with their careers that they only have time for the baby at night, after work... And then my mom continued on to say "Pero pag malaki na daw kukunin na niya" (When Marianne grows older, the mom will take her back). Hala! That's like winning he lottery for them! What do they think of us? That we don't have feelings... That we will take care of the baby without forming an attachment to her and not feeling that we are her parents for several years and that when the time comes that they think they want their child back we'll just give her without a fight?! I don't think so! Adoption, when we do it will be legal and binding. It will be a lifelong commitment. And we will not enter into it lightly. Charlie and I are still weighing out the pros and cons. We are doing diligent research. And no, we have not given up on the possibility of having a child of our own, it's just that we watch the news or hear somewhere that there is a child abandoned by his or her own parents or something to that effect, we cannot help but think "we could take care of that child instead of just leaving him or her to fend for himself/herself". Children deserve to be taken care of, some are just not fortunate enough to be born into families who can do this. But as much as we want to be able to help these children, we cannot help all of them... We can only adopt one child at a time to be able to really focus on giving him or her the attention he or she deserves. And before we can even begin to take the first step in Adoption, we have to make sure that we are truly ready mentally, emotionally and financially to embark on such a huge undertaking.