Lee and I have always considered adoption. Now might be a good time to mention that we are not thinking about babies soon and nothing I'm about to say involves immediate actions. But yeah, Lee's sister was adopted from China when she was two so Lee has always been pro-adoption and I've always thought it sounded like a fine idea. We'll see how life goes but I've kind of figured that after two to three of our own we might adopt the rest. (We're thinking three to four total. Depending on how things are going financially, I might like more. But not so many that I have to get one of those Jon and Kate sized vans. So maybe no more than five. Are there eight-seater SUVs? I don't want a minivan. Anyways!)
But then a couple weeks ago I read White Oleander by Janet Fitch. The novel starts when Astrid, the narrator, is about 11 or 12, and is sent to foster care after her mother murders her ex-boyfriend. And it gets worse from there.
I don't want to hate on our foster care system because I'm know they're doing great work. One of my substitute teachers in elementary school had foster kids and I'm sure she was an amazing foster mom and I'm sure there are tons of incredible foster families out there. But (spoiler alert!) Astrid got stuck with some veritable nightmares. Really, there must have not been a lot of background checks or home visits going on (Granted, this is all fiction.). Or maybe they just didn't care. Or maybe there were just too many kids who needed A home that they got ANY home that would open its doors.
So now I want to be a foster parent. Because Astrid was smart, talented and kind and she deserved a better chance. And the whole time I was reading I kept thinking, "We could do a better job. We could give her a wonderful home."
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