Next month I am going to an adoption expo sponsored by SPAFA, Southern Piedmont Adoptive Families of American, Inc. in November. I'm going as a representative of the North Carolina chapter of Families for Russian and Ukranian Adoption (FRUA) and I'll also be selling my book as a fundraiser for them. I'm especially excited because another parent will be coming with me and although I don't know her very well I'm interested in getting to know her better.

So - what will the... more

Have you heard of Yunona? It was an agency based in California that scammed over a hundred families across the country. Its owner, Ivan Jerdev, has fled the country facing fines and charges, but if he's gone home to Russia he also faces charges there of child trafficking.

Because of the publicity surrounding Yunona, Schwarzenegger has signed a bill into action (created by state senator Liz Figueroa) that puts new regulations on adoption facilitators like Yunona. This is from an article in the Napa Valley Register On-line version:

“Senate Bill 1758 will increase... more

Here are some news articles that focus on adoption. Kind of. Some (like the first one) are less news-worthy than others...so read at your own risk.

Madonna and husband to adopt African twins. Maybe? Maybe not? It's kind of surprising, actually, but if they do - good for them. No doubt they'll go on record later in the day...

Dear Abby asks "desperate mom" to write back. A couple of weeks ago a woman wrote to Dear Abby, saying she had given birth to a baby with her husband who's in the military (apparently at his request) and she did... more

I am apparently on a roll here. A blog roll, so to speak. I found out about this important piece, "I Am a Birthmother: On Judgment and Choice" on a birth mother's blog: Birthmother; Reprise.

"I Am A Birthmother" is by Poor Statue. Her blog is here.

"I Am a Birthmother: On Judgment and Choice" is really heartbreaking. I was struck when I read it how the issues we face in adoption and birth and infertility and what makes... more

In this month’s edition of Adoptive Families magazine, writer Scott Hollowell writes about his insecurities about being picked by a prospective birth mother. The article, “In the Eye of the Beholder,” has the tagline: “Should I change my shirt? My religion? When you’re waiting to be picked by a birthmother, you question every aspect of yourself.”

At first, he likens the wait to being picked for the volleyball team in middle school gym class…but that “picking” only lasts five minutes or so, while this “picking” can go on for months and months and even years.

“This is more like a police lineup,” he says, “and the birthmother... more

Wow! I have found a wonderful blog by a very insightful, intelligent and sensitive adoptee: Every Scar is A Bridge.

If you are adopting you need to read this blog. This young woman says so clearly what needs to be said about the damage of keeping secrets:

I am trying hard to see things from the adoptive parents' perspective. I won't lie, though, it's nearly impossible for me to understand them, much in the same way that they will never really be able to understand what its... more

People who blog really put themselves out there, don't they! It's astonishing to me how individuals all over the world are putting their private thoughts out there for all to see. I'm also grateful for it...otherwise I don't think I'd actually "get" concepts that we sometimes discuss on this site. It kind of makes me think of calculus class. I didn't "get" anything in calculus until one day in biology we were talking about the exponential growth of fruit flies and then - bam! - I got that one little math concept that I hadn't gotten when my cute math tutor had... more

Here is part 1. Here is part 2.

I'm writing about the essays in the wonderful anthology of adoption writing, A Love Like No Other. It truly is a book I think that anyone who is hoping to adopt should read. It's not just a book about how wonderful adoption... more

Here is part 1.

I'm writing about the essays in the wonderful anthology of adoption writing, A Love Like No Other. It truly is a book I think that anyone who is hoping to adopt should read. It's not just a book about how wonderful adoption is - there's certainly some of that - but it's also a book about how complicated adoption is. Adoption is complicated because... more

For the past several weeks I've slowly been reading A Love Like No Other: Stories by Adoptive Parents, edited by Pamela Kruger and Jill Smolowe. Typically when I read I like to do so all in a hurry - I'm a fast reader and I enjoy it very much. But I've been busy and have only managed a section here, a section there with this book. I'm glad of it. The essays in this book deserve a slow and careful read. I've felt lucky... more