One parent is better than none

Single parents should be allowed to adopt children in Thailand.

Imagine if you are an orphan, this single parent come visits you every single week, you became attracted to them, and they are what you look forward to every week.

In your head, you are thinking will this be my future parent? Will she or he adopt me?

Later, your foster home tells you that you won’t be adopted just because your step parent is single.

Your hope, your wish, your dream to have a family is torn away in front of you just because your step parent is single.

Let’s define the term “Single parents”, Single parents is a person who brings up a child without a partner.

They do have the same ability to take care of children as a couple do. If you are saying that single parents should not be allowed to adopt. Then, single mums and single dads should not have the right to raise their children after they have lost their partner. If the parent is able to offer emotional and financial stability then it does not matter if they are single or a couple. Orphans who are adopted would mostly be provided with a higher living standard when compared to their foster homes, their parent would provide them with food, shelter, medication, education and love. In addition, several researches have also shown that children raised by single parents experience outcomes that are as good as, or if not better than, those children adopted by couples.

Single parents give more attention to their children. As the child of a single parent, your little one will get all your undivided attention, without the worry of your love and attention getting divided between you and your spouse. According to the prb institution, married couples only spend approximately 6.5 hours with their children while single parents spend 11.8hours with their children. More attention towards the children means that the children will be even well nurtured, especially orphans who have experienced this lack of attentiveness, having one parent may be more suitable for them and can make them feel more loved. Your child will feel that even though they are adopted, they are love as though they are your own child.

If more foster homes allows single parents adoption then number of orphans could be lowers dramatically. Mahidol university’s’ recent research states that there are approximately 1,094,000 orphans in Thailand and there are 466 more orphans each day. Allowing single parents to adopt orphans can contribute to help decrease the number of orphans in the country. Between 1970s to 1980s percentage of completed single parent adoption per year increases from 0.5-4%  to 8-34%, you can see how much single parent are willing to adopt but are not given the chance to do so. Also, if single parents are not able to raise their children, why is the percentage of single parent adoption increasing? Most couples who are able to give birth to their own children would not be interested in adopting a child; therefore, single parent will be able to help solve the problem of orphans.

Orphans or the children themselves would be happier having one parent rather than none.

It would be better for the children to have a home rather than living in a foster home.

Conflicts may arise within family members, friends, agencies and institutions when single parent wants to adopt a child, but I feel that single parents should not be deprived from the right to adopt a child. I understand that it is necessary for institutions to investigate individuals who request adoption, in order to verify that the child is going to be placed in a decent, loving and stable home. However, it is better to be raised by one parent then none at all.