Apparently, it is a clown car...

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Sundae

I was referring specifically to love and attention from the parent. Parenting.
I was not suggesting that the children grew up without any love or without a sense of responsibility.

Oh I misunderstood, I thought you were taking issue with the self-discipline of the children, rather than the parents. I agree, I feel that it would be essentially impossible for a mother to spend a meaningful amount of one-on-one time with 19 children in the house.

Originally Posted by Sundae

Re your Mum's friend - good on her.
But there are real issues with adopting children from overseas orphanages.
If the babies do not receive nuture and comfort in pre-speech years, they can miss out on the ability to bond and socialise, and that cannot be taught or loved away later.

Oh yes, I agree. The child I mentioned, as well as every other one I have known that was adopted from overseas, had major psychological issues to contend with. It's one of the reasons that we decided early on not to adopt from overseas (back when we thought adoption might be our only option,) because it's impossible to adopt a foreign baby less than 6 months old, and by then the damage is done.