Infertility Myth: It’s easier and cheaper to adopt than to use fertility treatments. Couples who seek out fertility treatments instead of adopting are just being selfish.
Fertility Facts: Adoption isn’t as easy as they portray in the movies. Unlike Annie, you can’t just walk into an orphanage and pick a child to take home the same day.
There is a legal process to go through, a home study, and oftentimes, the adoptive mother has to choose your profile for you to get the child. The cost of adoption varies, starting at no cost up to $30,000, depending on what kind of adoption you pursue, and the entire process can take several months or years.
In addition, adopted parents also go through a range of emotional ups and downs along the way, as they wait to hear if and when they will get a child.
Adoption is a beautiful way to build a family, but it is not a simple choice. Even if a couple decides to pursue adoption, it does not take away the pain of not being able to have a child naturally. There is a grieving process that must be resolved first.
As for being selfish, the desire to have children is biological and deeply rooted. To call wanting a child of your own selfish is the same as calling the desire to have a place to live selfish. It's not selfish, but merely human.
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