Why do Hollywood Stars Adopt Overseas?

Today the names "Maddox" and "Zahara" are as ingrained in pop culture as the names of their adoptive mother, Angelina Jolie.

Although they haven't made any blockbuster movies or met with world leaders, these children were made famous for no other reason than they are the internationally adopted children of Hollywood stars.

While Hollywood has made it trendy to adopt underprivileged children from Africa, China or another struggling nation, this doesn't mean that domestic adoption has gone to the wayside.

The truth is, domestic adoption continues to grow nationwide. While some choose to adopt internationally out of a sense of pride for helping a poor, orphaned child from a lesser developed country, thousands of families adopt domestically each year.

Families who choose to adopt domestically aren't adopting a child out of a sense of charity, their main focus is the child itself - not their nationality.

For thousands of couples across the nation, adoption is the only means by which they can make their dreams of parenthood come true. Many adoptive couples will tell you that it didn't matter how they became parents, it only matters that they did. They aren't in it for the glamour, or out of a sense of charity, they chose to adopt a child because they wanted nothing more in life than to be called "mom" and "dad."

While it may not make headlines in Glamour magazine, or be talked about on The View, thousands of couples realize their dream of parenthood each year through domestic adoption. Thousands more are waiting to see this dream come true, crossing their fingers that an expectant mother will choose them to raise her child, that this will be their year they become a family.