Word: adopting
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...first glance, Stefan and Birgit Wilhelmi's story seems routine. A thirtysomething couple with an infertility problem, the Wilhelmis decided to adopt a child. Certified in 1992 as fit to be parents, they signed with a private Pennsylvania agency called the Option of Adoption. In January 1993 the agency called to say that a nine-month-old baby named Traymont was available. Ten days later, the Wilhelmis took the child home. No heart-searing dramas followed: Traymont's birth parents did not try to reclaim custody; previously unidentified relatives did not surface to contest the adoption. Encouraged by the ease...
Most Americans would probably be surprised to learn that children from the U.S. are being placed in foreign homes. According to the National Council for Adoption, between 1 million and 2 million U.S. families would like to adopt. That demand greatly outstrips the approximately 100,000 American infants and children who are available each year for public and private adoption. As a result, prospective parents must either wait on average 2 1/2 years or look abroad, where Americans adopt upwards of 7,000 children a year...
While there is nothing illegal or insidious about these adoptions, some experts regard the phenomenon with a mix of incredulity and alarm. "It's bizarre," says Joe Kroll, executive director of the North American Council on Adoptable Children in St. Paul, Minnesota. "We have families of all races who want to adopt children. Why are we going to other countries?" There are two main reasons: some lawyers and agencies find it easier and less time consuming to place black and biracial babies overseas, and some birth parents actually want their infants placed abroad...
...develop an economy beyond make-work, the Palestinians need to adopt tax laws and business regulations to attract capital, both from the large Palestinian diaspora, which has quietly assembled a $200 million investment fund, and from foreigners. But while the Palestinian Authority seeks out international funds, it resists encouraging investment from Israelis. That attitude will have to change, since even senior P.L.O. officials estimate that much development money must come from private sources, and the likeliest ones are in nearby Israel...
...through Grateful Dead Ticket Sales (GDTS) so as to avoid the outrageous service charges that Ticketmaster attaches to most events while their operators drone on in what is rarely recognizable as English. Pearl Jam, currently in self-imposed stadium exile due to differences with Ticketmaster, would do well to adopt a policy similar to the Dead's; start a hotline and provide a mechanism whereby fans can order tickets directly from the band's organization...