Adoption-Ed 101: Guardianship Solution

Now that we know some of the problems with adoption, the question becomes, what do we do about it?  That pesky original problem has not gone away.  There are still people out there who cannot or do not want to parent who have children and people who want and are able to parent, but cannot have children.  If adoption isn't the answer, then what is?

One proposed solution is guardianship.  What this solution proposes is that children go to live with a different set of parents who become their guardians.  Names are not changed, birth certificates aren't sealed, and the child still gets to keep their sense of identity.  People who do not want to parent don't have to, people who do can, and the child gets to remain as themselves.

A few potential issues that I can see.  Adoptive parents want to be considered parents.  They want children of their own.  If they are guardians and the natural parents come back and decide they can and are willing to parent, then the guardians are out of luck.  I can see people getting really upset about this.  Does that make guardians glorified babysitters?  They might pour money into a kid who is then taken away by their biological parents.  Also, who's to say that the biological parents won't find a way to use the system?  I mean, that would make sense.  If you're poor and can't feed your kids, send them to live with the nice rich people who can afford it for a few years, and then come back and help the biological family out.  I could see some really big problems with this.

That being said, the adoptee in my argues that while biological families can come back in this model, isn't that what might be best for the child?  Isn't knowing where you come from important?  Should adoptive parents/guardians be willing to sacrifice and put themselves in hard positions for the sake of a child?  Isn't it supposed to be about the child?

This solution has potential.  It has worked in the past and could potentially work in the future.  Do I think this will happen?  Not in my lifetime.  I think that adoption is too rooted in our society to see it be eradicated.  Most people don't have it in them to raise someone else's child with the threat of that child's parents coming to take them away.  Just look at some of the public custody cases that have been playing out across the media.  These children were not even adopted yet.

I think the main point is that there are other options.  Someare good, some are bad.  Some need to be worked out a bit more.  However, there are other options out there and those options are worth looking into.