Huntsmans Choose India, but Many Utah Children Need Homes

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) Utah's first family and their new Indian daughter Asha have again thrust international adoption into the spotlight. But there are hundreds of children in Utah adopted each year and many others still hoping for a family. Are high-profile international adoptions like the Huntsmans' a help or hindrance?

"I think any kind of high profile adoption raises the awareness of adoption," says Deborah Lindner is with the Utah Foster Care Foundation, which recruits and trains foster parents for the State of Utah. "Any time people can think of going outside their comfort zone, whether adopting a child from Utah or India, is a good thing."

According to the Utah Department of Child and Family Services, about 100 foster children are legally free for adoption right now. Most of them are teenagers, which underscores the challenge Lindner's group faces in competing with other adoption services to find homes for children in Utah.

"It is possible to adopt infants from the foster care system, but they are few and far between," says Lindner. "And lots of families, as they go through the system and see the need these children have - a lot do adopt older children from the foster care system."

Last year 385 children were adopted out of the Utah foster care system. Lindner says fostering a child can be excellent training for parents looking to adopt. But she warns that parents eager to adopt - whether from Utah's foster care system, a private agency or abroad - must be prepared for increasingly long waits. It took the Huntsmans more than a year before bringing Asha home from India.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2008 KCPW