Raise Awareness for National Adoption Month

Filed Under: DNA Testing by dnatesting101 — 1 Comment

November 10, 2011

November is National Adoption Awareness month; this November marks the 21^st Annual Adoption Conference in Brooklyn, NY. It is a time dedicated to raising awareness and educating others on adoption.

Adoption isn’t limited to newborns, there are children waiting to be adopted who are in the system until the age of 21. Here are some shocking numbers on children who grow up without parents:

More than 250,000 children in the US enter the foster care system every year.
More than 20,000 children age out of foster care without being adopted.
Almost 500,000 children are in the US still waiting to get a home.

It is important to raise awareness and improve sentiments behind adopting older children. These children need permanent, stable and loving environments but instead are passed around between foster homes until they age out.

Toby Dawson: A Great Story to Raise Awareness about Adoption

Toby Dawson, born Kim Bong-seok in Pusan South Korea is an inspiring adoption success story that has openly shared his journey to learning about his past and finding his birth parents.

Toby Dawson Adopted 300x206 Raise Awareness for National Adoption Month

Toby Dawson with his adoptive mother

Regardless of how much an adopted child loves and cherishes his adoptive parents, many are left with a deep need to search for their biological parents.

Toby Dawson, though of Korean ethnicity was adopted by an American couple from Colorado at the age of 3. Dawson would eventually grow to be a competitive Olympic athlete.

Dawson was found abandoned at a police station before he was adopted so his past left many questions unanswered. In 2007, after reaching out to the public about any information anyone may have about his background, a DNA test confirmed that Dawson’s birth father was a bus driver from Busan, South Korea.

DNA testing often helps by confirming genealogy and birth ancestry.

Children and Foster Care

There are a variety of organizations that work to promote and educate adoption:

Celebrities Make Adoption “Trendy”

At the end of the day, any promotion of welcoming orphaned or parentless children into a loving home is positive. But many celebrities adopting international newborns causes the neglect of older children.