Since 1996, Scott and Frieda Trull of Culloden, Ga. have been waiting for a child to adopt. Unable to have children of their own, this Christian couple has come close four times in the last three years. Close, but still no baby.

In March of 1999, the Trulls heard through a friend in a Bible study group of a girl in Georgia who was pregnant, but considering an abortion. Preliminary contact was made, but the Trulls never heard the outcome.

"We hope she found another couple, or chose to raise the baby herself," said Frieda. "In fact, we cling to that hope because to know otherwise would be devastating to us." Since the end of World War II, interest in adoption primarily has focused on healthy, young infants. By the mid-1950's, the demand for healthy infants grew so significantly that it exceeded the number of children available for adoption, a trend that has accelerated with each passing decade. (Freundlich, 1998).

According to the 1988 National Survey of Family Growth, there are an estimated 3.3 adoption seekers for every actual adoption. Only two percent of unmarried women at any age place their child for adoption, compared with 8.7 percent in 1972. (Bachrach, Stolley, London, 1992).

There are several types of adoption alternatives, including private agency adoption where children are placed in homes through the services of an agency licensed by the state in which it operates, and independent or non-agency adoption, where children are placed in homes directly by the birth parents or through the services of a facilitator, certified medical doctor, clergy member or attorney.

Most agencies aid adoptive families with newborns, international adoptions and special needs children, including sibling groups, children with learning disabilities, and older children.

A newborn adoption can take up to two years. After the paperwork and background check are completed, most of that time is spent waiting.

The Trulls are on a waiting list with an agency. They also still try for private adoption opportunities. Also in March of 1999, after waiting several months to hear from a prospective birth mother from another state, the Trulls received a letter stating that the mother had chosen another couple closer to where she lived.

"We understood. Location was important to her, and she wanted what was best for her and her baby," said Frieda. Still, the disappointment and hurt were there. "We hope every time we talk to a mother looking for an adoptive family that we will be chosen. We're not giving up," she said.

Bibliography

Bachrach, C.A., Stolley, K.S., and London, K.A. (1992. Relinquishment of premarital births: evidence from the national survey data. Family Planning Perspectives, 24 27- 32 and 48.

Freundlich, M. (1998). Supply and demand: the forces shaping the future of infant adoptions. Adoption Quarterly, 2(1), 13-42.