The environment is really fantastic. It is precisely this morning that a soft fog lies over Aggieland Safari in Bryan, Texas and the animals are just about to be fed. Photographer Martin and I have been waiting for an hour when all the protagonists start rolling in on the muddy road, which leads to the zoo.

We salute Kathleen, the reporter from the local broadcaster. She has until lunch to fix the recording. At the same time, Marcy comes from the organization trying to help enforce adoptions. They talk briefly about last week's recording - no one has even snatched at that boy's "contact ad".

Heartbreaking background

When Desirae finally arrives, with the woman in the foster family where she lives so far, it has begun to rain lightly. She is a bit nervous and the eight-year-old, like in the pockets, pulls on her slightly too short jeans jacket. It is probably difficult to understand the great interest around her when she has been forgotten and pushed away for much of her life.

Desirae takes off her glasses, dries them, and walks toward the high chair set up near the giraffes' fence. Here the interview will be conducted.

The girl's background is heartbreaking. Early on, she lost her mother in cancer and her father has never really been present because he is abusive. In the midst of grief, she and her siblings got to live with grandma and grandpa for a while, but they are older and couldn't handle all three. The decision was that Desirae was forced to relocate and the siblings stopped. An unreal decision, but that's why she's now sitting in front of Kathleen's camera, here in Bryan.

The questions are many and fast. Desirae tries to tell her about her school, saying that she lacks comrades and that she can't really explain why she gets so uncontrollably angry sometimes. Most of all, she wants a family where she can have her own room and a lot of siblings.

The adoption system is about to crash

This is what it looks like in the US right now. The opioid crisis, which has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, has caused the entire adoption system to crash. When parents are broken down by drugs, there are no safe places for the children.

Kathleen, from the local television station, gives accustomed instructions and constantly calls in new questions to Desirae. She has 40 similar recordings under her belt and gives a straight and uncomplicated picture of the job and "Wednesdays Child", which the recurring adoption element is called in TV tableaux.

For us, Desirae feels a bit lonely and exposed there on the hard bar stool. But our friends around us know that she is the chosen one who got the big chance. Who just this week can get a mom and dad to live with.

See the entire section of "The World" here.