Rant

Just for one second I would like to give everyone another perspective on the systems in our country that are "for the good of our children". When parents neglect or abuse and don't deserve the title Mommy and Daddy anymore. When a newborn fresh from God is shoved into a box and left to die, these children are taken into the custody of the state and placed with foster parents. The biological parents have to chance to do x, y and z in order to get their kids back in a certain amount of time, or they are terminated and the children go up for adoption. "What a wonderful thing for these children, scarred from emotional and physical abuse, to be able to start fresh!" you might say.

Well I'm here to tell you that America's foster care system is a big crock of shit. (pardon my French) What would you call it when a brand new baby is given to foster parents under the assumption they would adopt her? What about if I told you this baby has been stashed in a closed cardboard box, newly cut umbilical cord stump tied off with dental floss, and left to scream until she was so hoarse and defeated that she didn't make another sound for the whole first week of her life? The foster parents took her into their arms and hearts nurtured, cooed, and doted on her. Holding her every second they could, looking into deep blue eyes and creating a bond. What amazing people they are; so selfless, so giving. Here's the kicker- fast forward to six weeks later. The couple tries to get information on the legalities of her adoption into their family. The now month and a half old who social smiles, coos to engage you in play, and can stick out her tongue with the best of them. Amidst a lot of back peddling they are told that there must've been a lack of communication somewhere because the precious child was promised to a couple the day she was discovered in the box. A couple working with a private adoption agency for three years to become first time parents. My heart goes out to them, it truly does. But what do you do about the shattered pieces of the foster parent's hearts? The hearts that accepted the tiny human being as their own and meandered around Babies R Us picking out dream decor for her nursery? Nothing is done. No apology, nothing to make up for it (although I doubt there is much that could be done). Just the assumption that a band aid will be slapped on just like in the past and they will move on. They are supposed to continue giving so much of themselves to help children in limbo who are in the custody of the state. A state that frankly doesn't give a damn about them or the foster parents who give them a roof over their head, food in their tummies, and love in their heart.

What has happened to us? Have we become so selfish, so money hungry that we no longer can see past the ledger in our checkbooks? When someone is stuck on the side of the road, engine billowing smoke, we drive on without a second glace. Someone else will help. When we're all thinking that way there isn't "someone else". When did e-mails replace phone calls and text messages replace hand written letters? What happened to caring about others? What happened to being passionate about what we do? Achieving that monthly paycheck is all we're after, instead of putting our all into the job that earns it. I think it's absolutely despicable that this couple is now left to their own defenses all because someone failed to communicate. Because one person made a decision that should've been agreed upon by a boardroom full of people? Since when do we give one person, who is removed from the situation entirely, the power to decide a child's fate?

I'm ashamed to say I will one day send my daughter out into this world. A daughter who we are working so hard to raise the right way. What a slap in the face she will get one day when she ventures out into the cut throat working world on her own. I pray to God something changes before then.