Submitted by Shelby D Burns Tue 01/11/2011 adoption It’s a personal choice whether to adopt or go through the high touch intervention that is IVF. However, according to an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, the choice is marred by the unnecessarily burdensome process of adoption. Scott Simon, a writer for NPR, wrote in the WSJ from his own experience with adoption. He said, “Many couples pay tens of thousands of dollars for rounds of medical wizardry instead of adopting children who are already among us, crying for our love and support.” On average, a typical couple will pay $24,000 per IVF cycle and according to one recent study $76,000 for a complete treatment, the cost increasing as the intervention becomes more complicated. According to Simon, “Adoption is still considered a social good, but it suffers a competitive disadvantage” compared with fertility clinics. It seems that the only criteria Simon feels that fertility clinics use when assessing a potential client (or parent) is “to prove that they can pay.” He compared that to the adoption process with is burdened by a host of requirements and hurdles: “age limits, escalating fees, redundant legal procedures, repeated delays and long waiting lists can discourage couples,” he concluded. There is no doubt that couple should use the process they feel drawn to and best connected with when considering having children. However, there is a disparity when one process seems to be about access and money while the other is about passing personal tests and meeting measurements that may have nothing to do with being a good parent. Source: Wall Street Journal, 12/17/11 Login or register to post comments Need Help? A Counselor is Waiting
