This thoughtful article highlights the complexities behind Africa’s Ebola orphans and the available adoption options.
Adoption STAR Founder/CEO Michele Fried recently shared an article with us from a website called The Conversation. The 8/13/15 article is entitled, “Better policies are needed to support local adoption for children orphaned by Ebola,” and was written by Claudena Skran. It’s a heartbreaking read, but it thoroughly illustrates the challenging situations that so many Ebola orphans find themselves in.
The author argues that while family adoption is an option for some Ebola orphans, it is not for many children (as some children saw their entire families decimated by the disease, leaving them as sole survivors). The author also indicates that while international adoption is a viable option, it isn’t feasible for all of the orphans in question. Rather, a combination of the two aforementioned options, along with better support services that will allow some orphans to stay in their current communities, is the approach the author recommends.
You can read the article in its entirety here: Better policies are needed to support local adoptions for children orphaned by Ebola