I was driving back from dropping Dad off at the airport yesterday and heard about a new contest on a popular radio station here: it is called "Win a Baby". The winner of the contest would not actually win a baby, but three in vitro fertility treatments.
Wow.
I thought about it, and remembered back to when hubby and I dealt with infertility, and subsequently our adoption. I remember how it felt to want to be a mother and not conceive, or know if we would ever become parents. And I can never forget the hoops, intrusion, and mounds of paperwork and social worker visits we endured and jumped through just to be "approved" to start a family. Not to mention how much money we spent.
And then I got mad.
This radio show contest is not taking into account the future of the baby. It is a popularity contest, where the prospective couple will be picked by votes based on their photo and witty disclosures of why they should win. Don't get me wrong, I think couples deserve a chance to win, but only if they are really ready to deal with the responsibilities that come with being a parent. Not because they are cute or witty.
And then I think about all the children that are brought into this world who cannot be provided for, or are abused, or lacking the basics: a roof over their heads, food in their bellies, a loving and safe family, health care, education, etc.
And then I get madder.
My daughter was only a few days old when she was left alone in a train station. She was denied the opportunity - for whatever the reason - to be loved and provided for by her biological parents.
In a way, hubby and I "won a baby" too. But we had to be approved: prove we were worthy, make promises and financial commitments. We were screened by police and FBI, lawyers and immigration officials, governments and psychologists, doctors and adoption agencies. It did not matter if we were cute and/or witty.
Sometimes I wonder about the society we live in. How a child's life can be joked about, "won" or bought, sold or stolen. And then I just have to look at Kerri and thank G-d above that she is now safe, loved, provided for, and our daughter.
So yes, we won a baby too. But we now have a daughter we love and cherish and sacrifice everything for. I can only hope the same applies for whomever wins the radio contest.
Life with Kerri is priceless.