Quality of LIfe

The birthmom I am translating for is wavering, so I had to translate a meeting with her and the agency worker.

I am still struggling over the whole issue of quality of life.

Here's a scenario: An illegal family of immigrants with no money, living in poverty or an upper middle class family of US citizens in the suburbs. Who can provide a higher quality of life? A no-brainer, right?

And yet I have lived in a third world country and observed the poorest of the poor enjoying things we take for granted, content with their lives, fiercely loving their family members, and happy.

I have lived in this country and seen the wealthy able to enjoy nothing, no matter how extreme, never content, fighting consisently with their family members, and miserable.

Which of these two groups of people has a higher quality of life?

Have we bought into the idea that education, material possessions, economic success, and career advancement are synonymous for happiness and a high quality of life?

Sure, we can talk to a birthparent about the future and opportunities for the child they are considering placing for adoption, but sometimes I think we go overboard in emphasizing it as a quality of life issue.

I know this opens a whole can of worms, and maybe i'm just overtired, but sometimes I'm not sure that we know what the right answers are as much as we think we do.