Birthmothers Talk About Open Adoption

Share Tags: open or closed adoption Related posts Open Adoption Workshop (2) Open adoption (0) Children’s Adoption Book: Logan’s Journey (1) Birthmothers picnic (2) Are You Tough Enough To Adopt? (Part 2) (3)

Televsion Ad For Gay Adoption

Share Tags: Gay Adoption Related posts More Gays And Lesbians Becoming Parents (1) Lesbian Seeks To Overturn Adoption (0) Gay Couple Who Sued Adoption.com, Settle (0) Gay Couple Suing Adoption.com (2) Gay Couple Allowed To Adopt In Florida (2)

My Iguana, Buddie

I discuss my human children here a lot so meet one of my non-human ones…this is our 11 year old iguana…her name is Buddie. These pictures were taken inside our screen room, which is her favorite place to take in the warmth of the sun. This post is part of today’s Wordless Wednesday. Share ...

A Special Memory

This week I am participating in Heads or Tails and the writing prompt is to blog about a special memory. One of my most special memories is from the the day we finalized the adoption of our three children. We were all feeling so many emotions! We had an 8:45 AM appointment at court and we met their caseworker, guardian ad litem and our lawyer there. When it was our turn, we were told to sit at the table on the left, with our...

A Different Kind Of Normal

A Different Kind of Normal by Joan McNamara Every adoption has its own story, woven from the tears and hopes of each person and family involved. For some families, the process of adoption is itself a grand adventure; for others it’s a painful and challenging ordeal. After adoption, while some parents and children seem to “live happily ever after,” or at least bump along normally, a smaller number of families...

The Future of Vietnamese Adoptions

There’s a lot of frustration and sadness in the adoption community over the status of Americans adopting from Viet Nam. Here is a statement from the US Embassy: April 2008 The Department of State continues to urge prospective adoptive parents and adoption service providers not to initiate new adoptions from Vietnam at this time. The 2005 Memorandum of Agreement, required by Vietnamese law to authorize adoptions between...

Our Favorite Family Vacation

This week I am participating in A Slice Of Life Sunday and I’ve chosen to write about my favorite family vacation. My own childhood holds happy memories of several family vacations. Growing up in New York City, we vacationed in places like Ellenville, in upstate NY, where we visited Ice Caves Mountains, and Dutch Wonderland (PA). But this post is about a family vacation that I took with my children and husband…a...

Reaffirming Our Commitment

Recently, two visitors submitted some comments that were not supportive of parents who’ve adopted. Although I didn’t approve those comments, this is a great time to reaffirm why Forever Parents came to be and where our commitment lies. I created Forever Parents in 2002 after being frustrated by the lack of online support for parents who’ve adopted (and those waiting). I was also disgusted by the guilt and...

Summer Camp For Iowa Adoptees And Their Families

Iowans for International Adoption, formed in 1972, was originally created to help families in search of international adoption assistance. Giving families an opportunity to meet and support each other, this annual picnic expanded into a weekend retreat and eventually the current K.A.M.P (Korean Adoption Means Pride) and International Retreat. An annual KAMP and retreat that takes place each year in Cedar Falls, IA, for both...

Transracial Adoptees

Growing up black in a white family By SALLY ACHARYA “We had a big white Ford van with windows all around so people could see in. From the inside of the van, I felt like there were all these white heads and then right in the middle this little brown dot . . . When people saw me with my family, they’d do a double take.” –Shecara, nurse and mother Thirty years ago a commercial about needy Cambodians...

Sites And Blogs That Link To Us

Several sites and blogs have linked to us recently and I always try and make it a point to return the link back. If you’ve linked to us and don’t see your site listed under the “Links Of Interest” category, please leave me a comment. I’d like to also welcome their readers here. Allison linked to one of our posts on birthfathers. From reading her blog, it appears she has adopted three boys (I...

My Daughter’s Hair

I just had to show off my youngest daughters hair. Jacqueline is nine years old and decided on this hairstyle herself. This is not the first time we’ve had extensions put in her hair, but it IS the first time she decided on using another color. We went to the beauty supply store and she looked at all the color before deciding on red. The first picture is her having them done by our friend Camoia. The next picture is...

15 Questions To Ask Before Adopting Older Children

Adopting older children is not for the faint of heart. I have three children that we adopted at the ages of 5, 8 & 11 and if anything, it’s never boring. Linny, the co-administrator at our adoption forums compiled a list of honest, informative questions to ask before you adopt an older child through the foster care system. “My dh and I have adopted seven children to date. However, our ‘forever...

What Do You Want People To Know About Adoption

We asked our wonderful adoption forum members what they wanted people to know about adoption…here are their replies: * I would say that people need to know that kids adopted from foster care are kids first. They were not placed there because they were delinquent or bad, they were placed there (for the most part) because their birthparents had difficulties. Because of their parenting problems, these kids have...

Open Adoption Workshop

If you’re wondering if open adoption is right for you, and you’re in the Colorado area, register for this upcoming workshop, given by Lori , who is a member of our adoption forums, along with her daughters birthmother. Thinking About Open Adoption? “Just adopt.” you’ve heard, as if it’s no big deal. But it is. It’s common for couples looking into domestic infant adoption to feel...

Adoption on HallmarkChannel.com

HallmarkChannel.com is featuring several different adoption stories called “Adoption: Real Families, Real Stories”. There’s thirteen different videos, each featuring different adoption stories. Have a box of tissues handy. My daughters & I have been enjoying them! Share

Financing an Adoption

Home equity loans for adoptions Bob Tedeschi, New York Times For adoptive parents, bringing a new baby into the home can be costly. One national bank has begun helping such families more easily afford the financial burdens of adoption by tapping into their home equity. Chase, a division of JPMorgan Chase & Co., last month introduced New Additions, a program that offers adoptive parents a discounted home-equity loan....

We See the Moon by Carrie Kitze

Interview with Carrie Kitze: We See the Moon by Carrie Kitze is a story written from the child’s perspective, asking the questions that may dwell in their hearts about their birthparents. What inspired you to write the adoption book “We See the Moon”? I was inspired by adult adoptees who talked about how they couldn’t talk to their parents about adoption issues because they felt it would make them...

Successful Adoption Travel

The Top 10 Secrets of Successful Adoption Travel by Carrie Howard The adoption trip is a defining moment in a family’s life, the event that brings parent and child together at last. Virtually all adoptive parents travel to meet their new child, to a nearby city, to another state, or to a distant country. The adoption trip is a defining moment in a family’s life, the event that brings parent and child together at last....

Growing Up Adopted

Study Identifies Strengths Of Adoptive Families By: Dr. Peter L. Benson, Dr. Anu R. Sharma, L.P. and Eugene C. Roehlkepartain The mental health of adopted adolescents has received surprisingly little research attention. Yet, there are several compelling reasons to systematically explore this issue. One is the oft-cited dictum that adopted adolescents are over-represented in mental health treatment populations. Another is the...

A Birthfather’s Story

Adoption right choice: by Brennan Purtzer Imagine my son’s delivery room. He has just been born, and our family is huddled together with the love and warmth and security that only a mother and father can provide. Too bad it didn’t happen this way. I wasn’t there. I couldn’t be there. I chose to work in an Alaskan fishing village while my son was being born so I wouldn’t have to see him being...