|
|
We are all adopted children of the Father
|
|
“If ever I meet my birth mother, I will thank her for two things – for giving birth to me and not aborting me, and for placing me for adoption”, Grace candidly declared during a live talk show on television. Grace was 14 years old when her adopting mother listened anxiously to what her daughter would be revealing during that show – an interview of adopted children.
|
Grace added, “I am very happy with my present family and I know that her decision to place me for adoption was the best for both of us given her situation at that time.” She was actually speaking for thousands of children who have been successfully
adopted by Filipinos as well as foreign families.
Grace was born in Heart of Mary Villa, the Maternity Home run by the Good Shepherd Sisters. She was only four months when she was adopted. She finished medicine at UST where her adopting father also graduated Medicine and was a leading pediatrician. Grace is now practicing Dermatology in California where she lives with her husband and three-year old son. By the way, her adopting mother, Dolly, is my cousin and I was the bridesmaid in their wedding. Some years later, still childless, they applied for adoption. I was then in charge of the nursery where I accepted Grace from her teary-eyed birth mother a couple of weeks after delivery. We, nuns, certainly cry with the mom when she makes that final move to place the baby for adoption before she leaves the Maternity Home, almost dead sure that she will never see her darling baby ever again However, we cannot help but rejoice whenever a couple comes to fetch a son or a daughter that they have been longing for to complete their marriage.
Heart of Mary Villa celebrated its 50th Anniversary last May 2. Founded by the Good Shepherd Sisters in 1953, it has served over 5,000 pregnant girls and women While many people think that all unwed mothers admitted to the Home automatically have their babies adopted, there were only 1,903 given for adopted. 992 were placed in local Filipinos homes while 911 were adopted by foreign families. More that 50% were adopted in the USA, the next most popular country is Australia with over 100 babies growing up there, and the rest in Europe, and Canada.
Legal adoption is always coursed through the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development). Processing is confidential. Applicants are not allowed to just walk into the nursery and point out the baby of their choice! Careful investigation is done to ensure that each baby is matched to the most appropriate family. This is the commitment of the nuns to the single moms, knowing the agony their go through and the tremendous courage it takes to have others raise the child that they have sheltered in their womb for nine months.
The adopting couples are also encouraged by the nuns to reveal to the child as early as possible, even before he enters prep or kindergarten, that he /she is adopted. This removes the stigma of adoption and strengthens the child from other kids name-calling – “ampon ka lang” etc. I heard a five-year old adopted boy express proudly,” I have two mommies – I came from the tummy of one but I came from the heart of this one (clinging to his mom). Mommy, I love you!” Research has proven that the child who knows the truth about his/her adoption present less psychological insecurity especially during the teen years of identity crisis.
I attended the Golden Jubilee Celebration of Heart of Mary Villa with Bishop Iniguez and twelve other priests concelebrating the Eucharist. I watched with fond memories the video presentation on the history of the place, the testimonies of the young women that have been helped to go on with life in spite of so much devastation, loneliness and helplessness, and the cute photos of babies with their moms or with their adopting families. The video also showed the new ministries that Heart of Mary Villa has expanded to – the community development center giving educational assistance to hundreds of children from nearby depressed areas in Malabon as well as providing livelihood projects to women.
Whenever people ask me why I founded Pro-life here in the Philippines, I always refer to my mission in Heart of Mary Villa thirty years ago – when I had the vision of extending our services not only to sheltering the pregnant girls, but also to embarking on the abortion-prevention campaign through value-oriented sexuality teaching programs to our youth and to setting up the hotline counseling services.
I will end this article with the words of Pope John Paul II from his encyclical Evangelium vitae –“A particularly significant expression of a solidarity between families is a willingness to adopt or take in children abandoned by their parents or in situations of serious hardship”. This is an invitation for each of you to get involved in this special kind of pro-life work. If you cannot adopt or foster care a child, please speak positively about adoption. When you come to think of it, all of us are adopted…children of a Loving Father in Heaven with Jesus Christ as our Brother.
For more information on adoption and foster homes, call our pro-life office at 911-2911 or contact me at 0920-945-5494. We can refer you to the many other child-caring institutions, adoptions agencies, and to the Adoptive Families Foundation – a support group for families who have adopted children.
|
|
|
| JOIN MAILING LIST |
 |
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| Letters to the Editor |
|
|
|
|
| Letters by Sr. Pilar |
|
|
|
|
| Love Life TV |
|
|
|
| MAGAZINE |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| HOT TOPICS |
|
|
|
|
|
| ANTI LIFE ISSUES |
|
|
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
