There are nearly 60,000 orphans in Colombia and the majority of them will never be blessed with a family to call their own.
It's a sad statistic and stark number that includes orphan infants and people over 18 years of age. Once 18, the children are left without a strong support system to go to school or find a career.
Nearly half of all orphans are disabled or otherwise considered special needs. Many times these children are never adopted and spend their childhood in institutions. The demand from families to adopt these children is far less than for healthy children.
When families outside of Colombia adopt a child they often spend years waiting. From beginning the paperwork to having a child in their arms, one French family waited nearly six years.
Why does the process take so long? Every month Colombia receives about 200 dossiers or applications to adopt a child. There are only three people to review these applications, a necessary step before a family can be assigned a child.
Colombia places approximately 1,500 children with native Colombian families (no. 1 preference) and another 1,500 children with foriegn families. At this pace, it means that if no other child were added to the system then it would take 20 years for all children to be adopted!
Knowing these statistics helps us appreciate even more the blessing Daniel is to us.
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