Not just know for her celebrity spouse, Deborra-Lee Furness has many passions and lately she has also had many other reasons to smile. It wasn't always easy.
Deborra-Lee had numerous miscarriages and tried IVF many times
Deborra-Lee and her husband Hugh Jackman decided to adopt 12-years ago but they soon found the Australian system of adoption was a hopeless mish-mash of procedure and difficulty.
In Australia adoption can take as long as 6 years. (Using her US residency, it took Deborra-Lee and Hugh just 9 months to adopt a child.)
The cost is also beyond many people. In NSW alone, couples can spend about $40,000 on the process.
| A major event | |
This year will see the first National Adoption Awareness Week – Nov 17-23 | |
Deborra-Lee began pushing for Australia's adoption process to be overhauled, saying, "I would like to feel pride, as an Australian, that we are standing up and contributing. At this stage, I don't think we're doing enough.''
In February this year, newly appointed Immigration Minister Senator Chris Evans sent a delegation to Asia in efforts to begin adoption programs in Vietnam and Cambodia.
"I'm thrilled. It shows signs the Government is taking this issue seriously,'' Furness said at the time.
The situation
More info
Adoption and finding your family information - Sunrise
Related links
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Adoption links
Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are. - Malcolm Forbes
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they were no positive aspects to the process. more should be done to listen to parents who have actually brought up children and learn from their experiences.