I appreciate your suggestion and definitely feel there ARE lots of children who are out there that need a good home ... which is why we are adopting ... to give a child a good home. Regardless of whether the baby comes from the foster system or a private adoption, it is still a child that is in a situation where the birth parent is unwilling/unable to take care of him/her. And, as my post originally states, we DID look into DCFS (fostering to adopt), this is not a viable option for my family, for multiple reasons. Every foster to adopt child must be fostered for 365 days before they are eligible for adoption --- that means that there is a possibility that I can love and accept a child as mine for 364 days and on that 365th day, the biological parent that the child was taken from can decide to get their act together. I don't know about you, but that is NOT something that we, as a family, can handle. Also, the wait time for a HEALTHY newborn infant (which ultimately every parent wants for their child), is very high...you have to remember these children are in foster care for a reason. Most often times with infants it is because they had a mother that was a substance abuser. As much as I wish I COULD afford the cost/time to take care of a special needs child that has been diagnosed with an array of medical complications from this, my husband and I are not in positions to do so. And, lastly, there is no preparation time for a foster to adopt, if we get a call at 3:06 pm on a Wednesday, we have to be able to drop everything and accept that child or they move on to the next person on the list...I do not have a job wherein I can just call and say "hey by the way, I need to take 6-8 weeks maternity leave --- now". I WISH I were able to be a stay at home mom where this wouldn't be an issue, but the sad realty is that, like most mothers these days, I will not have that option.

Quick question to everyone in general (and I mean this with all of the kindness in my heart, as most of this has been posed by dear, dear friends/family)...what makes someone question a persons adoption plan vs the plans for a natural child? What makes the distinction to a person that it's okay to tell me what race/ethnicity/adoption service/country I should use/adopt from vs questioning a pregnant woman on her birthing choices?? Would you ask someone what their hospital bill was or whether there was a history of substance abuse/mental illness in their family? Would you question their preparation for their new child? I'm just perplexed how someone can view it socially acceptable to make comments like "oh no. are you sure you want to do that?" to an adopted parent vs. when a couple announces their natural pregnancy?