On my post, Putative Father Registries, long-time reader John posted the following comment:

The father should have a right to know of the birth of his child, but this state seems to fit with the idea that some states have the babies are the exclusive property of the mother. Certainly that was the thinking years ago, and oddly it fits well with the argument that abortion is purely a womans choice, she is the only affected person.

This... more

On my post, Putative Father Registries, I shared a story about one of my readers who did not find out about his birthdaughter's existence until she was 13 years old. By state law, he had no legal right to notice about the child's adoption because he was not aware of the pregnancy.

Long-time reader John posted the following comment:

Faith,... more

Each new year is a fresh start, and I think I know what all of my readers are hoping the new year will bring – a new addition to the family! That was definitely my wish as each new year rolled around. I would hope and pray that I would ring in the next new year with my child fast asleep in our nursery.

Do you make New Year's resolutions? I sometimes do but do not take them very seriously. I can tell you some resolutions that I never made while I was waiting to adopt:

Find a way to stop aching when spending time with friends' children Focus... more

I read a very disturbing Newsweek article called When Adoption Goes Wrong. I wrestled with whether to write about it but concluded that this is information that hopeful adoptive parents need to know about to protect themselves.

The article begins with a story about an adoptive mother who beat her adoptive two-year-old child to death. (Can you see why I hesitated to write about this?) While there is no justification for what this adoptive mother did, hopeful adoptive parents can benefit from reading... more

On my post, Adoptive Breastfeeding: Some Final Words, a reader left the following comment:

We are adopting a infant or toddler internationally. The things I've been reading suggest babies that have started bottle feeding, to be transitioned with bottles that have nipple similar to the mother's breast. I was wondering what others have experienced adopting internationally?

We adopted a newborn domestically, so I do not have... more

On my post, Insecurities about Adopted Child's Relationship with Birthparents, a birthfather left a very sad comment about his own situation. He posted that he has a thirteen-year-old birthdaughter that he just found out about this summer. I cannot even imagine the shock that this man must have gone through, first knowing that he had a child and then that "strangers" were raising that child without him ever relinquishing his parental rights or agreeing... more

On my post, Negotiating Contact with Birthfamily after Adoption, John posted the following comment:

In older child adoption you get some family tree info buried in the record. If you want contact with the birthfamily you can use the phone to try a 411 call to that name in that city. A thought for families doing infant adoption where it will be closed or almost closed. Ask the birthmother for family tree information, this will give the child... more

If you are reading my blog today, you are probably looking for some emotional support. I remember how it felt to have empty arms on Christmas Day when I desperately wanted to be a mother. Even those of you who are waiting to adopt a sibling for your child still know pain, even if your arms are not empty.

Some of you are waiting to adopt children who are living in a foster home or an orphanage. I can only imagine how your heart yearns to be with your child and how it must break knowing that your child is having to spend his holiday without his forever family.... more

I spent two Christmas Eves in the "waiting to adopt" mode. The first Christmas came around about 6 months after our home study was approved. I kept hoping for a Christmas miracle in which the phone would ring, telling us that an expecting mother had chosen us to adopt her unborn baby, but that was not meant to be.

Our agency begins showing all profiles of hopeful adoptive parents to expecting mothers as soon as the home study is approved, so I had hoped that we would be matched right away. After... more

On my post, Hoping to Adopt a Cute Child, Chromesthesia posted the following comment:

All babies are cute. I'm looking into Special Needs adoption. I go to do more research on it though. - Chromesthesia

Chromesthesia is wise to do a lot of research before choosing to adopt a child with special needs. Parenting a child with special needs is hard work, and hopeful adoptive parents need to enter into the adoption with their eyes wide... more