Adoption Interest Raised by Tsunami Disaster

The Associated Press reports that the Tsunami Disaster in Asia has peaked potential adoptive parents interest in adopting children orphaned by the tragedy.

The United States has many potential adoptive families asking about adopting children from areas devastated by the tsunami, however adoption officials say it's too early to consider bringing orphaned children into the U.S.

The executive director of Sunshine International Adoption Inc., said her agency has received many phone inquiries about adopting children affected by the disaster. She said it would probably be a year before any children become available for adoption. She also noted that birth certificates and proof that a child is an orphan, required information for an adoption to take place - were lost in the tsunami, and many countries will first look for extended family members to take the children before they would consider international adoption.

An adoption services planner with the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services,says uprooting the children and sending them to another country for adoption could be devastating to the adoptees.

However, some say the most important thing is to get the children to permanent family care, even through adoption, as soon as possible, whether that comes from their own country or a foreign one.