Adopting Older Children

I've been drawn more and more to stories about families who adopt older children, and families who have lots of children.  Hubby and I have spoken lately about how wonderful it is that God has given us a common desire to have a large family and to adopt older children as our kids near that age group.

I came across a blog on our adoption agency's client website of a family with eight children, one biological and the rest adopted from the foster care system and various countries.  One of the children they adopted most recently is a girl from Ethiopia.  Through the adoption process they thought she was 10 years old.  When she arrived in their home, she let them know that she was actually 13.  The orphanage she came from reduces children's ages on paper so that they seem more adoptable to Americans.  I think this is terrible!  Of course it's wrong for the orphanage to be deceitful.  But it's embarrassing on our part that they feel the need to do so.

We did adopt babies, and we're thrilled that we're experiencing the joy of raising them from infancy.  We thought this would be wise since we hadn't been parents before.  But children would be no less ours if we adopted them at age 13, or 15 or 17.  Orphans all need families, no matter how old they are.  In fact, there is something even more beautiful and exciting to me when a family adopts an older child.  These are children who have been waiting and hoping for years, and are longing for parents to love them and take them in as their own.  And these are children for whom time is running out.  Most orphans don't have good options waiting for them once they "graduate" from the orphanage.   

I know God will call each family to what is right for them.  I pray that in that process He will provide for orphans too!