I've been silent about the title of this month. If you want to know my feelings on it, you can read my post from last year (as, once again, the President left a large group of people out of his proclamation). However, I'm all about raising awareness. That's never been a secret. While my series on post-placement adoption agreements... more

In case you didn't read a single adoption related blog (outside of our network) this weekend, I need to inform you about a video that is making its rounds on blogs (via YouTube, of course). It's an important video, especially to families touched by adoption. It focuses on adoptees, their rights and how those rights are trampled upon by their lack of access to pertinent information about their health history, their lineage and their birth.

You can watch the video here.

The video is entered in a contest for Dashboard Confessional's (a band) song, "Thick as Thieves."... more

In When to Close an Adoption, I offered some possible scenarios as to when adoptive parents might be considering ceasing contact in an open adoption. Although some say an open adoption can never be considered closed, when contact ceases I consider that "closing an adoption." Even if it is necessary to limit or cease physical contact, rarely are there reasons so severe that all contact needs to be severed.

When an adoption is closed, generally all contact abruptly... more

The thought of encouraging folks to "be more aggressive" in their adoption journey boggles the mind.

Sunbonnet Sue

During the height of adoption in the United States, there was little need for adoption agencies (or anyone else) to be aggressive in finding pregnant women to relinquish babies. All the conditions were ripe for single pregnant women to choose adoption (or have others decide for them.) Agencies had no need to advertise heavily.

Pregnant unmarried women were in abundance during the... more

In the distance, I hear the fat lady tuning up and know that my time blogging here at adoption.com is nearly over. The old saying goes, “It isn’t over until the fat lady sings,” and I think that she is nearly ready to belt out my swan song.

Recently I tendered my 30-day notice of my intention to discontinue blogging at adoption.com. I have so many other unfinished writing projects that I want to complete and other projects in mind to begin. There are many other reasons as well that it is time for me to leave.

One disgruntled birth... more

If we ignore injustices that we discover in adoption, we allow the status quo to remain. In international adoptions, adoptive parents sometimes mention that at some point during their adoptions that something seemed amiss. Several brave bloggers have spoken up when they noticed; others worried about the fate of their adoptions and stayed mute.

Whether in domestic or international adoptions, if something seems "not quite right," it is likely a valid indication that something in the adoption may not be as it should be. Ignoring those signals may ensure that... more

Most of my regular readers have discovered that one of my most passionate missions is to inspire change in domestic newborn adoptions. The majority of the mothers that I know who placed/relinquished babies were involved in newborn adoptions.

All four of our blogger birth/first mothers placed their babies for adoption at birth. In case it has escaped anyone, all four of us also believe that the system failed us miserably. None of us feel that we had adequate information about the lifelong consequences of adoption. That alone should be very... more

"So, in that vein, does anyone think my idea of some type of regulation on the amount of profit that adoption professionals can make could work toward eliminating unnecessary adoptions?"

Soblessed suggested above that restricting the amount of profit that adoption professionals make could help eliminate some unneccessary adoptions. It sounds like a reasonable idea to me although I imagine the lobbyists for those who currently profit from adoption would fight any legislation like crazy along these lines.

We... more

"It's a little ironic that reform inspired by the desire to protect the adults involved is bound to sell out the children."

The comments inspired by various posts that I write often provide much food for thought. This comment was no exception. Not suprisingly, I disagree with this particular idea. However, I appreciate all comments for the thoughts that they inspire.

To the contrary, I believe that the reforms needed in adoption are not at the expense of adopted children. One of the connundrums in adoption... more

Adoption is under attack - we agree on that fact. However, it also appears that groups that support family preservation are also under attack. I want to address attacks on the concept of family preservation from my perspective.

No one that I know supports family preservation at the expense of a child. In other words, family preservationists rarely, if ever, believe that a child should stay in a home where they will be in harm's way. None of the birth parents that I know personally who support family preservation lost their children to adoption... more