A poignant article in today’s Times about adoption – Clifford J. Levy writes: ‘The boy was only 7, but he walked off the plane that arrived in Moscow from Washington all alone, carrying a knapsack with magic markers and candy, along with a single typewritten note. It was from a woman in Tennessee who had adopted him in Russia last year, became overwhelmed by what she described as his emotional problems and now wanted nothing more to do with him. Take him back, the note said.
“After giving my best to this child, I am sorry to say that for the safety of my family, friends and myself, I no longer wish to parent this child,” she wrote.
The boy’s plight prompted the Russian government to say on Friday that it would suspend all adoptions of Russian children by Americans until safeguards could be put in place. Russia was the third leading source of adoptive children in the United States in 2009, with 1,586, following China, with 3,001, and Ethiopia, with 2,277, according to State Department figures.’

Some people have the gumption to adopt a child but when reality turns out to be less romantic than they expected they treat the child as a commodity that can be exchanged.

Needless to say that some other people procreate by copulation without thinking of the consequences.