This article, published in the New York Times on May 14, 2013, brings to light a new trend in U.S. adoption: older adults who choose to adopt children, particularly older children and adolescents. According to the article, there is no systematic data collection on the ages of adoptive parents in the United States, however, anecdotal evidence indicates that the adoption rate among older adults is on the rise. According to Chuck Johnson, president and chief executive of the advocacy group National Council for Adoption, age barriers formerly set by adoption groups have steadily fallen over the past 20 years and executives at several large adoption-related agencies claim that they have seen heightened interest in adoption among older adults. For example, an informational web site set up by Adoptive Families Magazine has a special discussion forum for older adults with more than 500 members.
This trend may be part of a larger paradigm shift in the common views on what constitutes an appropriate adoptive family, especially as more single individuals and same-sex couples are choosing to adopt children in the United States as well. This reflects a recognition, according to the article, that “children do far better in families than in institutional or temporary care,” said Adam Pertman, executive director of the Donaldson Adoption Institute, a nonprofit research group, and author of “Adoption Nation.” What is especially noteworthy is that older adults are choosing to adopt older children, some as old as 21. The article states that in 2011, there were 104,000 children waiting to be adopted in the United States and over half of those were over the age of 6, indicating that many children who are waiting to be adopted are older children.
Some may question the suitability of older adults to become adoptive parents, being that older adults may have less energy and more health or other issues that could affect their ability to parent a child, especially an adopted child who may have particular needs due to a history of abuse or neglect. However, older adults may also bring more wisdom and experience to their parenting roles than many younger adults do. The article tells the story of Rebecca and Jim Gawboy, ages 60 and 76 respectively, who each have three adult children of their own and are now the adoptive parents of 12 children ages 8 to 19. The Gawboys live on a farm in Tower, Minnesota and felt the time was right for them to care for children in foster care and ultimately to adopt children, given their years of parenting experience.