McAlester News-Capital

Adoption: a story of hope, new beginnings

By: U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe 

Thursday, November 10, 2011 

From the moment I first held Zegita Marie in my arms, I knew she was someone very special. 

From half the world away, a different culture on a different continent, she came into my family through adoption. 

Her first three days of life cast a bleak future with slim hope of survival after she was found in an impoverished neighborhood in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Due to God’s love and mercy, a social worker nursed her back to health at a local orphanage. 

Seven months later, my daughter Molly and her husband Jimmy traveled to the African nation to meet this little baby we now affectionately call “Z Girl” to begin adoption proceedings. Despite obstacles they faced, like so many other adoptive families, the adoption was processed and they took her back home to begin their life with their new daughter. 

Since then, my family’s life has changed forever as we have witnessed first-hand this little girl grow up and thrive in school, reading at college level by the young age of 10.  

Adoption provided my family a chance to invest in a child and most importantly provided my little granddaughter a chance for a bright future. Like Zegita, there are thousands of other young children whose lives were transformed by adoption and many others still desperately seeking a new beginning with a forever family.  

My personal experience led me to champion this cause and lend a voice to orphans across the world as the co-chair of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption. With over 408,000 orphans currently in U.S. foster care, it is our responsibility to help these children before they age out of the system. 

On November 19, every state in the nation will come together to honor National Adoption Day in conjunction with National Adoption Month. Every child is a precious gift from God, and National Adoption Day celebrates the lives of many children that often go unnoticed – the orphans. It is through this national effort and the ongoing support of our communities that we can find permanent, loving families for kids in foster care.  

Congress is also spearheading this national effort with the introduction of my legislation, S. Res. 302, a resolution that celebrates National Adoption Day and National Adoption Month by promoting national awareness of adoption and the children awaiting families.  

The road to adoption is not an easy one, but one filled with the ultimate joy knowing that you made a difference in one child.  

I know this from my own personal experience. Although not related by blood, Zegita was destined from birth to be a part of my family where she now holds an irreplaceable part in each of our hearts. 

To prospective adoptive parents, my prayers are with you as you begin your journey. To those who have adopted, thank you for making a difference in a child’s life and making a selfless sacrifice in order to give a child the greatest gift possible, the gift of love. 

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) is the senior senator from Oklahoma and is the co-chair of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption.

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