As the father of an adopted child, I hesitate to encourage it. Adopting a child includes a number of additional challenges that having a child by birth does not

As the father of an adopted child, I hesitate to encourage it. Adopting a child includes a number of additional challenges that having a child by birth does not. It is not for everyone, especially people that are already hesitant to have children. Conversely, don't do it because you want to "save a child", either. The child will never feel "saved" and you will just become resentful. Adoption is a mutual process of attaching to and being attached to by a child that most likely has already had a fair amount of trauma in their life. It is ultimately worth it, but it is different (and also similar) in many ways to traditional parenting.