We turn to celebrities to inspire our clothing choices and beauty routines. They influence what cars we dream of buying and the vacations we wish could take. But, we also love it when we hear
about celebrities adopting! Why? Not only because most of us want the scoop on what celebrities are doing and what is trending, but also because when a celebrity adopts a child in need, it brings attention to adoption as a way of not only helping a child in need but also as a way to build your family.
Charlize Theron, a well renowned actress who won an Academy Award in 2004 for her portrayal of a killer in the movie “Monster”, has 
adopted a second child and this time it’s a girl! This rounds out her family with one boy and one girl. As many single parents can attest, adopting as a single parent always has more challenges than those adoptive parents where there is one Mom and one Dad. Financing and the emotional support is made more difficult in a single parent situation, but Charlize showed us that this can be done, not only through international adoption but also through domestic adoption.
The little girl’s name is August and is of African American descent. August was adopted by Charlize th
rough a domestic adoption in the United States. Charlize’s first son was adopted from South Africa, where Charlize is from.
We all cannot claim to be movie stars or famous for winning an Academy Award, but the desire by adoptive parents to adopt to expand their family is still of great interest to families across the globe. Prospective adoptive families are specifically interested in countries where great poverty creates the need for international adoption, such as Burkina Faso or Haiti.
Each country sets its own requirements for adoptive parents. Haiti offers single parents an option to adopt, where many countries have closed their doors to single parent adoptions. Since Haiti is a signatory to the Hague Convention, stability, predictability and transparency are part of the international adoption process. Awareness of the need for adoption from Haiti has been raised by celebrities such as Sandra Bullock. Since the 2010 Haiti earthquake, many children have been left orphans and international families have a heart to meet the children’s needs.
For those families interested in Africa, but shy away because they are looking for better stability in an adoption program, Burkina Faso provides a great option. Burkina Faso, a landlocked country in the horn of Africa, is also a signatory to the Hague Convention. As a result, it has protective measures in place to ensure ethical adoptions in the best interest of the children, and provides an added layer of protection for adoptive families. Burkina Faso, while not well known, has a need for adoptive parents and a strong Central Authority to guide the adoption process.
As a society, let’s follow the example of Charlize Theron in not just how we dress and the cars we want to drive, but in meeting the needs of the world’s most vulnerable children.
For more information on our international adoption programs, please contact us.
Sonja Brown
Sonja Brown works as the International Program Director for MLJ Adoptions’ programs in Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti and Samoa. Sonja is also proud to work directly with our Individualized Country Program families who are adopting from countries where no adoption service providers currently operate.
Sonja Brown
Sonja Brown works as the International Program Director for MLJ Adoptions’ programs in Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti and Samoa. Sonja is also proud to work directly with our Individualized Country Program families who are adopting from countries where no adoption service providers currently operate.