For students at Blue Valley Southwest, adoption is more common than they realize.
“Most people don’t think much about it at all,” freshman Alex Peuser, who was adopted from South Korea as a baby, said. “All of my friends think it’s pretty cool.”
Many people don’t realize how common it is to have a tie to adoption. Gary Howard, assistant principal and athletic director, has adopted two children. Curtis, their first, was adopted from Hong Kong when he was three months old, and is now six years old. Ali, their second, was adopted from India when she was almost three years old, and is now four and a half years old. Their family is no different than any other.
“The only thing it has changed is the way I look at little kids, like their mood swings and little things they do,” Howard said. “After being married to my wife for 17 years, the little ones occupy a lot of our time. But it’s a good change.”
Adoption is a permanent, legal transfer of all parental rights from one person or couple to another person or couple. Adoptive parents have the same rights and responsibilities as parents whose children were born to them. In this way, children who are adopted are legally the same to their adoptive parents as they would have been to their birth parents.
Many people don’t realize the time it often takes to adopt.
“Adopting from Hong Kong and India were extremely different,” Howard said. “In Hong Kong, where we got Curtis, you have to live there 18 months before you can even apply. Then you can get the baby, but you have to stay for six months and finish things like paperwork. In India when we got Ali, we were there [India] for about ten days, and we got Ali on about day four or five.”
Approximately 140,000 people are adopted by American families every year and as many as one million Americans have someone in their immediate family who is adopted. There are many forms of adoption. The main types include adopting a child from the U.S. foster care system, adopting an infant in the United States, adopting a child from another country and adopting a step-child. Because adoption is such a common thing, there are more people walking down the hall that have ties to adoption than students realize.
“I haven’t ever really thought about my birth parents, I didn’t know them,” Peuser said. “I do know that if I ever was curious or wanted to seek information, my parents would help.” Most students aren’t adopted, but many have siblings, cousins or other family members that are adopted. For junior Colin Bennett, adopting his sister from Calcutta, India when she was four months old was a new and exciting experience.
“I remember being so excited that I was going to have a little sister,” Bennett said. “I didn’t know quite what to expect as I was four and my only sibling experience was my two older brothers, but I was ecstatic about having a little sister.”
Adoption can have a lasting impact on any person involved.
“I’m much more open to the fact of adoption,” Bennett said. “When I see a family with a kid of a different race (as we are), I don’t judge and think ‘how weird,’ I just roll with it and take it for whatever it is.”
Whether adopted or biological, a family is a family: that is the most important lesson that most people with connections to adoption learn. It exposes them to the fact that everyone is different, and race or color can’t break the ties of a family bond.
“I have realized how lucky I am to have people who love me,” Peuser said. “My mother in Korea was very young and for all I know she didn’t have a husband, so I consider myself lucky to have such a great family. The only family I know is mine now.”
“Most people don’t think much about it at all,” freshman Alex Peuser, who was adopted from South Korea as a baby, said. “All of my friends think it’s pretty cool.”
Many people don’t realize how common it is to have a tie to adoption. Gary Howard, assistant principal and athletic director, has adopted two children. Curtis, their first, was adopted from Hong Kong when he was three months old, and is now six years old. Ali, their second, was adopted from India when she was almost three years old, and is now four and a half years old. Their family is no different than any other.
“The only thing it has changed is the way I look at little kids, like their mood swings and little things they do,” Howard said. “After being married to my wife for 17 years, the little ones occupy a lot of our time. But it’s a good change.”
Adoption is a permanent, legal transfer of all parental rights from one person or couple to another person or couple. Adoptive parents have the same rights and responsibilities as parents whose children were born to them. In this way, children who are adopted are legally the same to their adoptive parents as they would have been to their birth parents.
Many people don’t realize the time it often takes to adopt.
“Adopting from Hong Kong and India were extremely different,” Howard said. “In Hong Kong, where we got Curtis, you have to live there 18 months before you can even apply. Then you can get the baby, but you have to stay for six months and finish things like paperwork. In India when we got Ali, we were there [India] for about ten days, and we got Ali on about day four or five.”
Approximately 140,000 people are adopted by American families every year and as many as one million Americans have someone in their immediate family who is adopted. There are many forms of adoption. The main types include adopting a child from the U.S. foster care system, adopting an infant in the United States, adopting a child from another country and adopting a step-child. Because adoption is such a common thing, there are more people walking down the hall that have ties to adoption than students realize.
“I haven’t ever really thought about my birth parents, I didn’t know them,” Peuser said. “I do know that if I ever was curious or wanted to seek information, my parents would help.” Most students aren’t adopted, but many have siblings, cousins or other family members that are adopted. For junior Colin Bennett, adopting his sister from Calcutta, India when she was four months old was a new and exciting experience.
“I remember being so excited that I was going to have a little sister,” Bennett said. “I didn’t know quite what to expect as I was four and my only sibling experience was my two older brothers, but I was ecstatic about having a little sister.”
Adoption can have a lasting impact on any person involved.
“I’m much more open to the fact of adoption,” Bennett said. “When I see a family with a kid of a different race (as we are), I don’t judge and think ‘how weird,’ I just roll with it and take it for whatever it is.”
Whether adopted or biological, a family is a family: that is the most important lesson that most people with connections to adoption learn. It exposes them to the fact that everyone is different, and race or color can’t break the ties of a family bond.
“I have realized how lucky I am to have people who love me,” Peuser said. “My mother in Korea was very young and for all I know she didn’t have a husband, so I consider myself lucky to have such a great family. The only family I know is mine now.”
