Should People Adopt Foreign Children with HIV?

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When contemplating adoption, families begin to ask themselves a great deal of questions. Determining options including gender and age can generate a great impact on your adoption decision. A primary component of the adoption choice is whether you are adopting domestically or internationally. When families look into international adoption multiple risks begin popping into your mind. Will I ruin the child by taking them away from their home country? Is it too expensive to adopt internationally? Is my orphan child HIV positive? If so, is adopting this child actually safe for my family? Though it is said we should help those in need, why should we endanger ourselves bringing them into our home? With HIV being a life threatening disease, it makes these questions easy to answer. If you do not want to risk HIV being in your home, then simply do not adopt children that are HIV positive. As the media and adoption organizations try to persuade their audience by saying it is safe to adopt these children, there is a risk in everything and this one could be a life threatening risk to you and your family. It is not safe for them, the expenses are immense, and America is already HIV infested so why should we add more?
Understanding HIV and how it can be transmitted is crucial when deciding if it is safe to adopt these children. The common ways for HIV to be transmitted is through sexual contact, pregnancy, injection drug use, occupational exposure and blood transfusion (U.S. Department of Health). HIV lives in blood and other body fluids such as semen, breast milk and vaginal fluids. Though unlikely, if vomit or nasal fluid had enough blood in it, it could infect a person if it came in direct contact with them (U.S. Department of Health). When ...

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...nt to help these children other ways, you can donate to HIV-relief organizations that work in developing countries. Clearly, it is not safe for our homes, there are too many expenses for the treatment, and America is already an HIV growing country that needs to stop. Unless you want to bring HIV into your home, then do not adopt foreign children with HIV.

Works Cited

Hicken, Melanie. "Average Cost to Raise a Kid: $241,080." CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 14 Aug. 2013. Web. 05 Apr. 2014.

"HIV Cost-effectivenes." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 Apr. 2013. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.

"Office of Population Affairs (OPA)." HIV. N.p., 05 Sept. 2010. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.

"U.S. Statistics." AIDS.gov. U.S. Statistics, 06 June 2012. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.

"U.S. Statistics." U.S. Statistics. 06 June 2012. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.

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