Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting someone new. I met her through our local university's international student conversation partner program.

I applied last year, but since I specified somebody Russian (since my son is adopted from Russia) and it was late in the year there was no one they could hook me up with. I reapplied about a month ago and was given this woman's name. Yesterday I went to see her.

I was open to her about my motivation for participating in the program. I told her that since we've been to Russia I was interested in learning more... more

Here is part 1 of this blog entry.

Some agencies permit travel to India, some don't. India is a challenging country through which to travel and I imagine it can also depend on the region where your referred child is located. From what I can tell, parents only travel when it's time to get the child: travel at the time of referral does not usually happen. (If you've been through the process and know differently PLEASE let me know. I looked at some agency sites in addition... more

The grandmother of all information sources for adoption from India is IChild. That's where I've gotten most of my information for this blog post.

As with all other international adoptions, the prospective adoptive parents will first complete a homestudy, apply for the I-600A, and complete a dossier for the Indian government. You must use an agency to adopt from India; they partner with an agency in India who will locate a child for referral.

Once you receive your referral then you will have several more... more

This post is about communication in open adoption.

First, you'll have to put up with my own little drama.

Recently, a person who I thought knew me quite well got really angry at me about something I said. She thought I said what I said for one reason; the reality is that I said it for quite another reason. Apparently my delivery didn't convey my meaning very well, especially when combined with certain assumptions she has about me. She thinks she irritates me. She told me I wasn't patient enough with her. I told her she hadn't given me any... more

I've been playing around on the Internet, looking for stuff to read and write about for my blogs, and I've come across so many wonderful websites and essays that I think everyone involved in the adoption triad, particularly hopeful adoptive parents, should read.

This article on Salon.com is by Dawn Friedman and is about the open adoption of her daughter and the overwhelming guilt she feels about "taking" her new daughter from her birth mother. She speaks to her daughter's first mom often:

Jessica called about once a week to hear how Madison was doing and to tell me what... more

It was with excitement that I googled "adopting from Kyrgyzstan." I read someone recommending it on a message board and I wanted to investigate it further. Adopting from Eastern Europe still remains a possibility for us and I'm interested in any and all of the programs available.

Unfortunately, it looks like adopting from the Kyrgyz Republic is neither easy nor recommended at this time. According to the state department's website, only 5 children were adopted from the Kyrgyz... more

This is in response to Owlhaven's post about the beauty of transracial adoption, and how adopting a black child costs less than adopting a white child, for instance, or a Korean child, and how that's offensive.

I wrote this in her comments field, but then I decided I wanted to make it its own post.

I agree that it's offensive. But I also think it reflects (an unfortunate) reality of our culture. I also think that just because a family decides they want to adopt a child of their same race it doesn't make them racist. Many people, when they first look into adoption, consider adopting transracially and... more

I just read a really interesting thread on the adoption.com forums about being at the hospital for your potential baby's birth.

Obviously, it's not up to the prospective adoptive parents. It's up to the prospective birth mother. That said, if you have the opportunity, should you do it? What are the issues involved, emotional, ethical, and legal?

Giving birth is an intense, painful, messy, and triumphant situation. Being at the birth of your potential child could be a moment of extreme meaning... more

My sister is a counselor to addicts. She works in a treatment facility that helps addicted women with children try to overcome their addictions and get back on their feet. Many of the women are able to bring their children with them to the center. Childcare, food, lodging, and treatment are all provided. The goal is to keep the family together.

The concept behind this is wonderful. Women with children who are also addicts don’t live in a vacuum, so they can’t heal in a vacuum. Their children are part of their lives outside of the treatment facility so they need... more

Most of the people who adopt the 120,000 some children adopted each year in this country adopt domestically.

It's hard to find current, accurate statistics for domestic adoption, but since 10-12% of the children adopted each year are adopted internationally, that leaves a little over 100,000 who are adopted domestically.

About half of those children are adopted by biological relatives. Some of those may be through the foster care system and some privately. So that leaves 50,000 children + each year who are adopted by non-biological relatives. I couldn't find out how many are... more