Adoption goes on-line
March 13, 1996
Web posted at: 1:45 p.m. ESTFrom Correspondent Jeff Flock
CHICAGO (CNN) -- The National Council on Adoption reported more than 50,000 adoptions in the United States in 1994. Now technology may take that number even higher.
Cable television and the Internet are part of a technological adoption explosion that is putting both waiting children and waiting parents out for public review.
"What we are trying to do is create awareness," says Virginia Bailey of Adoption Information of Illinois. "That's the number one goal here."
Bailey produces "A Family For Me," a cable TV program that showcases tough-to-adopt cases, like 13-year-old Joel. Joel knows that finding homes for children his age is a tough sell, and he wonders if "going public" will help.
"Will they like me?" he said. "Will they like the way I speak? Will they like me period?" (98K AIFF sound or 98K WAV sound)
On the "Faces of Adoption" Web page, pictures, biographies and personal information are available for viewing. Over a million people have viewed its 150 faces and stories since it launched last October.
And then there is "The Cradle" page, which started up just three weeks ago, featuring prospective parents rather than children. They write "dear birth mother" letters about what good mothers and fathers they would be.
Some wonder if going public with the faces and personal histories will open prospective parents to fraud and prospective adoptees to ridicule or worse.
"If we don't anticipate the problems and deal with them in advance, then we are very foolish," said William Pierce, president of the National Council for Adoption. (155K AIFF sound or 155K WAV sound)
But despite the concerns, it's a risk worth taking for both kids and parents desperate to make a match.
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