More than 18,500 international children were adopted by American families last year - nearly double the 9,945 who were brought home to the United States just 15 years earlier, according to Adoptive Families of America, a national support agency. Even as the Carters hit the adoption on ramp, twin infants are caught between American and British families in a highly publicized adoption dispute. But the story is merely an annoying pimple on the adoption culture. At the moment, the real tenor of international adoption in this country is one of surging confidence, especially with inroads being made into China and the Russian republics. Scores of agencies specialize in international adoption now, and World Partners is just one of them.
Children come from countries as diverse as Korea, Guatemala, Vietnam, India, China and Ukraine.
More to the point, the child has got you - a new, forever family. I don't know how to explain it. There's a child out there that needs a family, and we would love to have another child. You get swept up in it. There's a lot of red tape, but we can do this.