There are so many things to consider over the course of making the decision to adopt a child. Although once undertaken it may feel like leaping from a precipice into uncharted waters without a life vest, it's usually a very long walk to that edge, with every step considered carefully, and frequent thoughts of turning back.

The deciding process is arduous, and eventually gets to the international?/domestic?, boy?/girl?, baby?/older child? range of questions, which actually signals that, yes, you've climbed the mountain and the adoption cliff is most likely in your future.

On the way up you've passed the can we?/can't we?, should we?/shouldn't we?, what about the __? hurdles, to which I feel it necessary to add.

On top of all the other serious considerations, the myriad of worries over the innumerable life-altering changes adoption will bring about, how about this?

Once you're a parent, EVERYTHING will be your fault.

If you don't believe me, here are just a couple of days' worth of guilt trips straight out of the world news.

(Before anyone gets het up, thinking I'm absolving parents of responsibility for bad parenting ... well, get over it. That is SO not my style, and this is meant to be a bit tongue-in-cheek. If I was taking a serious tone, I'd mention how big the flaps would be if the reports included the idea of "adopted children" ... gasp!)

If your kid ends up being a bad driver, guess what? Yep. That would be your fault.

Young Drivers sited their parents, especially fathers, as the primary influence when it came to their own driving. "Parents should understand that their driving practices are likely shaping the driving practices of their children and should ensure that they are good role models behind the wheel," stated Allan Lamb, Executive Director of the BCAA Traffic Safety Foundation. "In some cases family influence overpowered driver training courses in young driver behaviour," added Lamb.

Parents in Scotland are having their tempers blamed for knife fights:

He said: "What we are looking at now is the evidence and research that indicates that sometimes the skills that you lack that lead to you being violent when you grow older, those are learned within the first three years of your life.

"If there is aggression and shouting and tempers and that is how you resolve problems then that is how babies will learn.

In Germany, the Social Democrats believe parents should be punished when children break the law.

Social Democrat Wolfgang Schimmang, who serves as education counselor for the Berlin suburb of Neukolln, said he would support fined of $67 to $133 for parents of delinquent children.

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