The Foster Question

I think every family who considers adoption also stops and considers foster care.  Number one it's certainly the cheaper option in fact, in the family foster generally gets a financial stipend.  This morning I spent some time calling some local places that assist families in foster care.  My first call was to an agency that specializes in placing children that are considered refugees.  I learned a few things, but the first, and most telling, was that these "children" aren't really children, they're teenagers.   We would likely have the choice to bring a 15, 16, or 17 year old into our home, and that's not really what we're looking for.  Also, refugee children are never available for adoption.  Then of course there's the local foster children.  Children in the US are taken from their homes for one reason or another, but not generally because their parents chose to put them into foster care.  Also, these kids also are above the age range we were really looking to bring into our home.  We will be attending a foster parent informational session in July, but I really don't think this is the way to go for our family.  I don't want a revolving door of children in our home who we love and care for and then lose.  I don't want Cole to get attached to a "brother" or "sister" only to lose them a little while later.  No, I think adoption is still the best road for us.