‘Adoption is the purest expression of love,” said our driver, as he whisked me and the two girls of whom I had taken conditional custody from Bogotá’s elite Club Nogal to the offices of ICBF, Colombia’s family welfare agency. As a consequence of Colombia’s civil war roiling officially since 1964 (but unofficially since 1946), the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare (ICBF) is the country’s second best-funded ministry, after Defence. “God will bless you for this, ma’am,” he concluded.
I demurred, with some response about it being my blessing. More recently I have thought: “Gosh, I certainly hope so.” Nothing about the adoption journey has been easy – and it’s been a very long journey that in some ways is only just beginning.
