NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH, 2009- - - - - - -BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
"All children deserve a safe, loving family to protect and care for them. In America, thousands of young people are waiting for that opportunity. During National Adoption Month, we honor those families that have strengthened America through adoption, and we recommit to reducing the number of children awaiting adoption into loving families.
America is a country rich in resources and filled with countless caring men and women who hope to adopt. These individuals come from all walks of life, united in their commitment to love a child who is in need of the protective arms of a parent. We must do more to ensure that adoption is a viable option for them. By continually opening up the doors to adoption, and supporting full equality in adoption laws for all American families, we allow more children to find the permanent homes they yearn for and deserve."
Thus begins the formal presidential proclamation for National Adoption Month. May we take time this month to recognize individuals and couples who have adopted and raised children as their own. My sister adopted two children, Brian and Stephanie, and dedicated her time and love to raise them. My brother adopted two boys, David and Bruce, and I can't imagine our family without having known and loved these children.
When I wrote "Hidden Heritage...the Story of Paul LaRoche", the true story of a white couple who adopted an American Indian boy, I became intimately involved in the Summers-LaRoche family. Paul's story is inspiring and uplifting on both sides of the adoption coin...his adoptive home was warm and loving, and when he reunited with his birth family as an adult, he was embraced and welcomed back. His is a wonderful example of how adoption can and should work.
This month let us salute all the people and families who have given and shared love--the greatest gift of all--under the umbrella of adoption.
Blessings,
Barbara
Link to presidential proclamation: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-proclamations-national-adoption-month
