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Show j&chUrer By the slaff of the Children's Aid Society of Utah The following is the first installment in a new monthly column, the Iron County Record is offering its readers. The series will deal with such items as child care, nutrition, adoption, foster care and working mothers. This week's "Children" features adoption. If adoption were a market operating on the principles of supply and demand, then Utah children would be a "commodity" more valuable than any precious metal. Utah agencies cannot meet the demand. Many thousands of couples are currently on "waiting lists," patiently hoping for the opportunity to adopt a child. And more and more, the couples are considering "private adoptions," a trend one adoption specialist views with a concerned eye. Virginia Spooner, the executive director of the Children's Aid Society with offices in Ogden, Salt Lake City and Provo, estimates that about 50 percent of all children adopted in Utah were obtained through private contact, usually through an attorney. Most of these adoptions, she says, are successful. But the adoption aim often differs from that of the charitable agency. "A charitable adoption agency is concerned foremost with the welfare of the child," she says. "Although the end result may be successful, a private a adoption 'finder' 'fin-der' is more concerned with finding a child for the family." She understands the private search, however. The Children's Aid Society placed 15 children in t traditional adoptions in 1981 and arranged for two others, a drop of more than 50 percent since 1980. The other major charitable agencies within the state LDS Social Services, Ser-vices, Catholic Community Com-munity Services, Children's Service Society and the State Division of Social Servicesall Ser-vicesall face far more applicants than available children. A fact overlooked, however, is that there are a number of adoptable children whom too many couples overlook. Last year the Society placed nine special needs children and, while these children are not obtained through a mere "snapping "snap-ping of the fingers," such children are more readily available. The term "special needs" may conjure up a horror story but it shouldn't. "These children are living, breathing human beings who need the same love and attention all children deserve," said Spooner. "These children present special challenges for a parent but they may also return the' greatest love." Many of these children have physical handicpas including severe cases of cerebral palsy or cystic fibrosis; many are victims vic-tims of Down's Syndrome. Syn-drome. Others are merely developmentally disabled, educable but "behind" their peers in mental and physical development. "The great majority of parents adopting these children are delighted," she says. "One mother recently saw one of our staff workers in a grocery store and told her that the child had brought their whole family closer together." Regardless of the type of child, parents upon adopting their first child usually face a short period of readjustment. |