When the number of international adoptions began to skyrocket 15 years ago, many couples who adopted went into the process naively. They saw the pictures of the abused, neglected children warehoused in Romanian orphanages; they may have heard the reports of the high rate of fetal alcohol syndrome in Russia.

But there was this sense that love could cure all.

Bonnie Miller Rubin reports for the Chicago Tribune about the dark outcome for many of these families. In a heartbreaking story, she writes about a ranch in the middle of rural Montana, which houses and attempts to heal internationally adopted, deeply troubled and often violent teens. One has molested a sibling. Another tried to kill a family pet.

This is the final stop. Most already have logged countless hours in psychiatric units, wilderness programs and residential treatment centers, searching for answers to their disturbing behaviors. The goal is that through intense intervention and structure, their conduct will improve sufficiently so they can go home.

Sadly, though, Rubin says a "handful" will be sent to live with new families, the victims of what is known as "adoption disruption," the term for when adoptive parents attempt to undo the adoption.

Whenever I've read stories about adoption disruption, usually there is a harsh judging tone--sometimes even an explicit condemnation of parents. But Rubin, adoptive mom who wrote a beautiful essay for my anthology, A Love Like No Other, writes about these parents--and children--with compassion and a recognition of the tragedy involved. She points out that this is an outcome that no one wanted. Stumble It!