Much like I just wrote about the need for ground up reform in places like Asia, there are people in our country striving to help foster change in positive ways. While some are busy working with legistlation (I'll tell you a very important story next week!), there are others who are taking their initiatives to a personal, one-on-one level. In fact, a first mother has recently been brainstorming an idea and is beginning to move forward with it. I couldn't... more

When I come across younger birth mothers raising children who are working their buns off to help create better choices for pregnant woman and improve current adoption practices, I have two opposite views.

First, I am thrilled that these energetic young mothers are grabbing the torch and trying to help make some important changes. I think we need all mothers young and old to unite and work towards important reforms.

However, I also worry about their divided loyalties, especially if they are raising other children. It has to be such a struggle to juggle... more

In my previous article, I talked about a man who had adopted from Korea and is now working to foster change in how unwed mothers are treated within their own country. I was contacted to provide some more information about how to follow in his footsteps. Still others found it pointless to offer help. I did some research, finding no groups wanting to abolish adoption and instead found people and corporations wanting to start at... more

Oh yeah, the word is out. Adoption is under attack and any one who has not yet figured that out must be living under a rock.

The larger question, however, is why are so many people complaining about adoption practices right now? Who is criticizing adoption? Is it only those anti-adoption folks that many seem so eager to dismiss as lunatics? Are they just bitter, angry birth parents and adoptees who have had rare negative experiences with adoption? Maybe people... more

As, I wade through the debates that sometimes ensue between birth and adoptive parents, a little voice keeps jabbing at me. That voice is telling me that essentially we both have the same goal. Parents - all parents - who care about children want what is best for them.

We sometimes disagree on is exactly what is best for some children. In many situations, I think most of us parents are in agreement that children should not be raised by parents who are drug addicted or otherwise obviously incapable of being good parents. Most of us also would... more

Strap on your armor because you need to be tough! There is no substitute for on the job training for a birth mother who decides to go public. Hmmm, come to think of it, maybe we could benefit from a class or two?

There is no real way to prepare yourself for what you will face when you choose to discuss adoption issues on public forums. I am learning fast, but still have much to learn.

Here are a few suggestions: 1. Be ready to defend your positions in the calmest manner possible. Depending on your own personality,... more

I think if we work on changing attitudes before adoption happens, everyone will be a winner. JustJayne

Maybe I am partial, actually I know that I am, but I love so many of the reader comments that I receive. Check out these comments. Some militant birth parents believe that I hang around adoptive moms too much here on the blogs. I have been told that I am way off the mark by fraternizing with and trying to understand adoptive moms. Adoptive... more

Here is an update on the agency recently in the news for purportedly encouraging 17 year old mother, Stephanie Bennett, to run away from home to sign adoption papers. The agency has been cited by the state for various violations involved in this case. Apparently, this same agency has been found guilty of other infractions several times in the past, but continues to operate.

In this recent case, the situation deviates from the norm because the 17 year-old mother was parenting her... more

I wrote last week about a group of birth mothers in North Carolina who were pushing for change. Too often we hear of groups of people who want change but are shot down by bureaucracy. In this case, while not fully giving what was being asked, at least a step in the right direction has been made: a step towards reform. Of course, the truth really lies in what is being changed and why certain things were compromised. I have questions about a lot... more

Laws don't miraculously change themselves; it's a long and involved process that usually begins with people who are being adversely affected by said law. In yesterday's news out of North Carolina, those people are a group of birth mothers, demanding to be heard.

North Carolina has a law, mandated in 1949, that prevents adult adoptees from easily finding their biological parents. The group of birth mothers appeared before a House judiciary committee to please the case for the bill. What does the bill entail? Allowing an adult adoptee to receive... more