Personally, I have never wanted to give birth to a child. I have thought about this decision long and hard, and after much deliberation, I have decided that if I were to have children at some point in my life, I would prefer to adopt them instead of giving birth. Typically, when I tell this to people, they seem taken aback because most people don’t seem bound and determined to adopt a child. In this article, I’m going to talk about the pros of adoption and the role it plays in the life of both the person adopting and the child being adopted.

1. You’re giving a child a family and a home

According to the website The Hope Effect, over 153 million children are orphans worldwide. They also state that if orphaned children were their own country, the population would be ranked 9^th in the world. In case it wasn’t obvious enough, that is a lot of children. By adopting, you would be giving one of these children not only a family, but a home in which they will be able to grow and prosper in a loving and caring environment.

2. Orphanages and the foster system aren’t always the best

Often times you hear about how children in foster systems and orphanages are more likely to act out or have behavioral issues. This is typically due to the fact that these children are not as close to parental figures and have less one-on-one time with others, making them less likely to develop secure attachments that allow them to develop healthy relationships and behaviors. In fact, an article by Scientific American expounds on the fact that physical closeness is essential to the development of infants and children. Thus, by adopting, you could provide a child with the emotional support and physical closeness that they need and may not find in an orphanage or foster home.

3. It gives people who aren’t able to biologically have children the chance to have children

There are several reasons why people would be unable to have children, some people have diseases that would be passed onto children they would reproduce and some couples are unable to reproduce biologically because they are of the same sex. More reasons include infertility, sterility, and individuals who want children but are not in a relationship with someone else. Through adoption, these individuals would be able to care for children and raise them in a positive environment that they may not be able to find elsewhere.

4. It gives the child better opportunities for growth

Often times, children who grow up in the foster system or in orphanages do not receive a good education or opportunities for personal growth. According to this MinnPost article, “Foster youth are at higher risk of poor academic achievement, including higher dropout rates and truancy, than their peers who are from stable, permanent families.” As an adoptive parent, you would be able to give the child a stable home environment that would allow them to achieve greater academic success, which would lead to greater opportunities after schooling.