In his diary, Cuban Osmel Almaguer shares his doubts about adoption as an alternative for having another child, while facing obstacles like his wife's fear of childbirth and their immigrant status in Brazil. He questions if he is prepared to love a non-biological child as his own. A young man adopted multiple times, whom his wife met, inspires his reflection on unconditional love.
Osmel Almaguer, 46, and his 37-year-old wife, already parents to a beautiful 5-year-old daughter, desire another child but face significant barriers. His wife fears another childbirth after a tragic experience at Havana's Maternidad de Línea hospital. As immigrants in Brazil without residency, the process becomes even more complicated.
Church members have suggested adoption, a serious and legally complex matter. Almaguer wonders if it should be desired fervently or merely as a last resort. 'It’s not enough to say, “Oh yes, I want to have another child, and since we can’t, we’ll choose one who has no parents,”' he writes.
He reflects on the overwhelming consequences: it changes family life and the adopted child's. Some cases go well, others are disasters. He insists on acting out of love, asking: Am I capable of loving a person I brought into my life out of nothing? Will I love them as my own child, no matter the consequences? Am I physically, psychologically, and financially prepared? Is my family?
For immigrants like them, adoption is even harder due to the lengthy process. His wife met a young man abandoned by his mother as a small child, briefly cared for by his grandmother and then adopted, but abandoned again at age 6, living on the streets until adopted once more. Today he is a good person who works, forgave his abandoners, and thanks God. He describes adoption as sacred.
Almaguer, a believer in Christ, sees the faithful as adopted children through Jesus's sacrifice. He quotes the young man: 'To adopt a child is to love a stranger' —and he agrees.