"Love Sees Beyond Differences" is an advocacy we, UST students, had to work hand in hand with for our Ideas that Matter event (an academic activity participated by Advertising and Communication Arts students of UST). At first I was a bit hesitant if we could be successful since not a lot of people are open to the broad aspect which is adoption. It is fulfilling to see that the students I was with eventually warmed up to the advocacy after the 3 days of ITM. A lot of students are now open to the concept of adoption. They now have deeper understanding of what adoption really is and what it can do for other people.

Adoption is not just about welcoming someone into your home. It doesn't end there. It’s about being a family and creating a home for the child and being there every step of the way. Being the reason for a child’s smile is the most fulfilling or the lightest feeling in the world and I think the Love Sees Beyond Differences campaign has that power. The power to give joy to children and parents alike.

By Claudine dela Cruz

I’ve always been aware of adoption from watching local TV shows from when I was a little kid. Honestly speaking, I didn’t really know how to feel about children who didn’t have a place to call home or didn’t know anything about their real parents who were supposed to be there by their side.

The relationship between the adoptive parents and adopted children is an interesting subject.

Generally, people know that those kinds of relationships may hit a bumpy road because of their complicated status.  Aside from providing essential needs, love and care for the child, they must face the fact that one day, they would have to tell their adoptive child that he/she is adopted.

 A couple who have always desired a child and finally was able to adopt a child after a grueling process would feel very blessed and fall in love with their new son/daughter but would soon be served with issues with their adopted child when he/she hits the teenage years.

How should adoptive parents deal with disclosing the truth to their child?

Telling the truth to an adopted child would hit various chords that would affect his/her relationships inside the family and even to friends, people they know from school and such.

Adoptive parents should convey to their child in the beginning that it is alright to talk about their adoption openly. If they seek answers to questions about their identity, then the adoptive parents must oblige. Openly conversing about the adoption could serve as a means of bonding of the adopted child and adoptive parents.

In the end, like every other relationship, a relationship between an adopted child and his/her adoptive parents is a relationship of give-and-take, of understanding that requires not only love but patience as well.

Adoption isn’t just giving food, shelter and a name for a homeless child. It is not only an option for couples who can’t have children, or for people who just want another member of their family. It is saving one’s life – giving the child a chance to fulfill his/her dreams and happiness despite the challenges the parents may face while raising the child and the fact that he/she is different.

I believe that this is what the advocacy wishes to tell everyone about.  That adoption isn’t just an act of kindness but a kind of love worth declaring despite differences.

-Jeri Ann A. Gabon, University of Santo Tomas- College of Fine Arts and Design