I couldn’t love them more even if they were my biological children
She had an awful cheek to lump all adoptive parents into the one boat.
I am privileged to have two beautiful adopted children, one from Ireland (her birth mother did love her!) and one from China (she was abandoned). I couldn't love them more if they were my biological children.
I did not buy either of them, as the only money given, apart from travelling expenses to China, was a donation to the orphanage she had lived in for the first year of her life.
Ms McElhinney may say China is corrupt, but we should clean up our own doorstep here before looking at corruption in other countries.
She must live in Utopia if she doesn't realise it is not always possible for a child to live with his or her family or extended family.
Is it better for them to stay in an orphanage or to be adopted by a loving family, who will cherish them, give them every advantage they can, promote their culture, etc?
Is it so wrong to want to be a mum when you are unable to have a child or to want to give a child a home and a chance in life even when you've been blessed with biological children?
My children are my children it doesn't matter which way they came. As they say, God works in mysterious ways, and so does love. There are cases where children are abused in their natural families. Is that acceptable?
Would it be better for my little daughter to have spent her life in a social welfare institute with nobody to give her that special one-to-one attention and love that all children need and deserve. When I look into her bright, happy, beautiful little face, I see the truth and I feel so privileged to be a mum to both her and her big sister.
I'm angry at Ann McElhinney's shortsightedness and the fact that she has formed a very biased opinion of international adoption.
I hope that when she researches her book, she will present the real facts and focus on the thousands of happy cases, and not on her own biased view.
Máire Foley
16 The Grange
Raheen
Limerick
