12 March 2008

Dear Friends,

Last year in Australia, around 80,000 unborn babies lost their lives to abortion - while only 59 Australian-born babies were released for adoption.* Five of these babies were from South Australia. This may seem shockingly low, but is in fact good news. The year before, NO SA-born babies were released for adoption.

Adoption gets a very bad press. For example, if young pregnant women ask the "Pregnancy Advisory Centre" at Adelaide's Woodville Park for advice, they are effectively told they have only two options - to abort or keep the child. Adoption is considered a non-viable option because of the grief experienced by the relinquishing mother. No one talks about the grief experienced by the aborting mother.

And no one tells the good news stories about babies who have been adopted and have grown into healthy, well-adjusted and productive adults - bringing great happiness to their adoptive parents and sometimes to their re-united birth parents. Without any axe to grind, such adoptees go about their normal life and do not approach the media as those with less happy tales are apt to do.

I am preparing a resource paper on adoption - to be published, we hope, in the May edition of LIGHT magazine. I would value your prayers as I gather relevant information, including both the pros and cons of adoption. In particular I would value input from people who have been adopted or have relinquished children for adoption or have adopted children. Please tell me your stories - happy or sad - plus details of government rules and requirements in your case.

If you know others who may be able to send me information, please pass on this email. Unless requested, I do not plan to publish any real names. I will change details in stories to protect confidentiality.

It is my hope that this research may help save some unborn lives in the future.

God bless!

ROS

* "Adoptions Australia 2006-7", Australian Institute of Health and Welfare http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/cws/aa06-07/aa06-07.pdf

Mrs Roslyn Phillips, B Sc Dip Ed National Research Officer, Festival of Light Australia http://www.fol.org.au