Raise awareness of adoption in November

Published: October 31, 2019

En Español

November is National Adoption Month. As we celebrate and support adoptive families, let us also discern if God might be calling us or someone we know to adopt. Adoption can be done in different ways: private, domestic or international, infant adoption through an adoption agency or attorney or the adoption of children of any age through the state foster care system. Have you ever considered adoption for your family? Is it possible God might be calling you to adopt?

More than 125,000 children and teens are in foster care waiting to be adopted in the United States. To learn more about adoption from foster care, see this FAQ from AdoptUSKids. In Arkansas, visit Project Zero or Children of Arkansas Loved for a Lifetime (CALL), which reaches out to churches, including Catholic churches, statewide to help members become foster or adoptive parents.

National Adoption Day is Nov. 23. More than 400 cities nationwide participate in this event to finalize thousands of adoptions of youth previously in foster care. Organizers of this event work with policymakers, practitioners and advocates to finalize adoptions to show children that one day can be life-changing.

For more than 35 years, the Diocese of Little Rock has operated Catholic Adoption Services, a non-profit, Arkansas-licensed, child placement agency and ministry of Catholic Charities of Arkansas. If you would like information about making an adoption plan for your baby or becoming adoptive parents, contact Antje Harris, LSW, director of Catholic Adoption Services, at (501) 664-0340, ext. 347.

If you are not sure how you feel about adoption, check out BraveLove. This is an organization started by an adoptive mom that aims to erase the negative stereotypes and convey the love at the heart of adoption. Its mission is to: "change the perception of adoption through honest, informative and hopeful communication that conveys the heroism and bravery a birth mother displays when she places her child with a loving family through adoption." This is done through storytelling. Read or watch the honest and beautiful adoption stories told here.

If God is not calling you to adopt there are still plenty of ways you and your family can support adoption. Check out this list of 43 Ways Everyone can Celebrate National Adoption Month from Adoption Network Law Center.