Domestic Adoption: Potential Risks, Hurdles, and Rewards
Domestic adoption can be a beautiful way to grow your family, but it is not without its own set of unique challenges. Before starting down the adoption path, it’s important to understand the potential risks and hurdles associated with domestic adoption.
One of the most common issues with domestic adoption is that birthparents may decide at the last minute to keep their child. This can be devastating for hopeful adoptive parents, who are often left with little support during the adoption process and must watch as their adoption dreams crumble away. Because of this, it’s incredibly important for adoption agencies to ensure that all parties involved in the adoption process have realistic expectations and are fully informed about what adoption entails.
Another common problem with domestic adoption is that adoption laws vary from state to state, making the adoption process complicated to navigate. This can lead to problems like delays or complications in the adoption process, as well as legal issues down the line with birth parents who may have certain rights in one state but not another. Additionally, adoption costs can be high, as adoption fees and travel expenses add up quickly.
Finally, adoption fraud is a real concern with domestic adoption. Prospective adoptive parents should always do their research and work with an agency they trust to protect themselves from adoption scams. By understanding the risks associated with domestic adoption, you can help ensure your adoption journey is a successful one.
However, even through all those obstacles, adoption can be an incredibly rewarding experience. Take the story of Mike King and his wife, Gaby. They went through the painstaking adoption process, and while it was filled with challenges, difficulties, and sometimes tremendous heartbreak, the rewards were beyond magnificent. In his compelling new book, Dad Spelled Backward: A Journey Through the Maze of Love, Marriage, and Adoption, Mike King writes extensively on his journey through domestic adoption.
This very real and transparent story by a husband and parent is perceptive, sincere, equally full of hilarious and tender moments, and ultimately a monument to love that knows no bounds. Mike narrates the tale of how, after learning that they were unable to have a child, he reluctantly agreed to proceed to the next stage of potential parenthood—adoption—in order to make his wife happy.
Can having too much sex kill you? In his book, Dad Spelled Backward: A Journey Through the Maze of Love, Marriage, and Adoption, well-known New York pediatric dentist Dr. Michael King poses this query. Mike had never given marriage and fatherhood any attention, although his work focuses on children and their care. However, when he met Gabriella, his beautiful (and much younger) French wife, in his fifties, all of that changed. Together, they decide to attempt to have children. They put all their efforts into getting pregnant, and Mike hilariously posits the question of whether too much intercourse can be a cause of death.
Unfortunately, domestic adoption is frequently a drawn-out, expensive procedure that sends couples on a roller coaster of hope and misery. Mike describes how he and Gabriella were put in touch with pregnant women one after another until they were ultimately granted a baby, only to be forced to give the child back when the birth mother had a change of heart. They were left feeling so emotionally spent that they had to determine if having children was worth the cost or if they should give up.
Other couples would have split up due to such tragedy, but Gabriella and Mike simply became closer. Their love for one another only strengthened, and they eventually became parents. Mike says, “I hope this book motivates individuals who want to have children or are thinking about having children.” We all have challenges in life, but if love wins, the battle is worthwhile.
This beautiful tale of one man’s journey into love, a successful marriage, and fatherhood will make you smile and cry along with Gaby and Mike.
Dr. Mike King is intriguing. He is a comedian and a pediatric dentist, and he has established his practice in a not-so-usual way by using humor and magic tricks to help kids relax. He is the author of the children’s novels Enamel the Camel and Flossopher and the Brushing Trees. Mike’s father owned Sid King’s Crazy Horse Bar in Denver, Colorado, so entertainment runs in the family. It was one of the most well-known burlesque venues West of the Mississippi in the 1970s and ’80s, so it was only a matter of time before Mike started entertaining adults. He is referred to as “The Fifth Dentist” in the comedy club scene because “four out of five dentists recommend sugarless gum,” as the saying goes. Mike frequently performs at Broadway Comedy Club, Gotham Comedy Club, and New York Comedy Club. He has created a one-man act in addition to the musical The Lap Dance Kid, which is now in development. Mike’s biggest pastime that he relishes the most is spending time with his wife and daughter. They are currently living in New York City.
