A Side Note - Post #2

I have to explain here that at 16 the kids in the Ukraine "graduate" from the orphanage. Unless there is a family member - often a not much older sibling - to take them in, they are on their own. To put it in perspective, these kids are not beaten, fed gruel and clothed in rags like some Victorian novel (no Oliver Twist here!) but they are not given many life skills or vocational training. Best employment opps? Waitressing, nanny, drug-trafficking, prostitution. And no, I am not being overly dramatic. Some kids might qualify for scholarships for further education - but that is not the norm. Additionally, the US doesn't consider a child adoptable after 16 and getting a VISA at the point very difficult. One last point, these kids are smaller in statute than our kids (think 13 y.o. looking 10) and have been institutionalized long enough to be emotionally delayed as well.