Proposed adoption law absurd

It's been a long time since I've had the MPs in my sights but a newspaper article last week has made them a target too tempting to ignore.

Not only does it seem that they are complaining that 'major proposals are being rejected' (by which they mean the likes of parking for 2,000 cars in government buildings) but they are now drafting a new adoption law that would mean children under the age of 15 would not be eligible to find a home with a loving family.

The proposed law is supposed to help prevent young children from being abused. But, while the intent is good, the way of going about it is quite frankly shocking.

Not only does it reinforce the ridiculous stereotype that the only people who want to adopt children are abusers, but it also completely misses the point of adoption in the first place; a chance for parents who can't have children of their own to still have the opportunity to fulfil their dream of parenthood and a chance for children who have lost both parents for one reason or another to still grow up in a loving family atmosphere.

A child of 15 has already done the vast majority of his or her growing up. And those that do so in a home have to grow up a lot faster without the invaluable knowledge and experience of what it is to be cherished by loving parents.

My sister and I were both adopted when we were babies and have had the benefits of parental love. It's a large part of what gives us our values and beliefs in life and there can be no substitute for parental love when it comes to forming the basis of a caring individual.

We grew up with love all around us and the knowledge that, no matter what, there were two people in this world we could always turn to and rely on to help us through whatever obstacles we face in life.

For their part, my parents raised us from a very early age and, while they went through the usual trials and tribulations it takes to raise children from babies to adulthood, they didn't have to deal with the extreme range of emotional problems that can be the result of having to grow up in an orphanage or from being bounced from home to home, as is often the case with older children who grow up in the system. No amount of love and care in later years can make up for the loss of those feelings at an early age.

An aunt and uncle of mine, who also adopted two children, decided that they wanted to give the same opportunities that my sister and I had to older children. They adopted two children in their early teens and while they have showered them with as much love as my parents did on my sister and I, it has been a long hard struggle for them to make the children understand that they will always be there for them.

They have had to deal with constant challenges from the children who grew up believing that no adult would ever stay the course with them. My cousins acted out, were angry and resentful, often objectionable and stubbornly resistant to any of my aunt and uncle's efforts to make them feel equal parts of a loving family. It took many years of patience and reassurance before my cousins were able to understand that my aunt and uncle loved them and would be there for them, no matter what.

Children need to know from as early an age as possible that they have a stable and loving environment to grow up in. It's how they, in turn, learn to give love and stability to their own children.

It's sad enough that any child has to grow up without their own parents but for it to also be the law that they are not allowed that stable and loving environment until they are too old to reap its benefits is quite frankly criminal.