I hate overly simplistic views of complex issues. Presidential campaigns bring out the best of them, don't they? With abortion remaining a hot button issue, we're bound to be subjected to some real bang-up statements regarding abortion, adoption and how easy it all would be if the world just magically acted in one way or another.

For example, Presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani has decided that if you decrease the number of abortions, the number of adoptions... more

Until my son used the word "tragic" to describe our situation, I had not associated my adoption loss with that word. However, it does totally apply. I love commenters who stretch my mind, and make me think. Happygirlphd did that with her comment below after this post.

You call the circumstances of that pregnant woman (and later birth mother) tragic. I wonder if you consider all cases of considering or deciding to place a child for... more

Lately, I have come across a few questionnaires/checklists designed to help prospective adoptive parents choose an adoption agency. Few offer any suggestions that might help determine the ethical nature of an agency (or lack of it).

Here are some questions that might help locate an agency that is highly ethical and concerned about facilitating adoptions that are necessary.

1. What percentage of the women who begin an adoption plan at your agency back out and decide to keep their babies?

2. Do you offer pregnant women considering... more

Child adoption facilitators versus child adoption agencies: The US government and many state authorities are receiving and ever growing number of complaints concerning child adoption facilitators operating in various states and countries.

Agencies vs. Facilitators is an informative article about the differences between using agencies or adoption facilitators to adopt. Laws differ from state to state about whether facilitators can legally operate,... more

While researching a different post, I came across this question. A prospective adoption parent asked whether or not they should disclose a drug conviction. Uh, yes, definitely!

This is not the first time that I have seen questions about what potential adoptive parents should disclose, and will unlikely be the last time. How would you feel as an birth parent if you found out that you had entrusted your child to a family that had omitted important... more

One popular motto of the womens' rights' movement many years ago was, "A woman's place.....is everywhere." For years, I had a car license plate holder that with that motto. Yet, I did not know about its popularity with the movement.

I do support the idea that women should be treated fairly in all respects. However, I think we have a ways to go in respecting women in adoption. Plus, I also believe that there is some confusion as to what it really means to respect a woman and her decisions.

In this... more

Coley just wrote a post about Refuge House which is located in Marion, Illinois. This house helps young mothers learn how to parent well. This article stated that women had come to stay at this facility from as far away as Mexico and Florida. I suppose that may be an indication of how atypical this type of facility may be, and how few other such facilities exist.

Refuge House allows young mothers with one child to stay for up to two years. During that time, the mothers... more

"I stand by my belief that a woman is not a weak, exploitable vessel and should be given enough respectful resources to make her own choice."

This was part of a comment in a recent post of mine, and it struck a chord with me. Although I agree with the idea that a woman should be given enough respectful choices, I believe that we still have a ways to go as far as providing honest information about those choices. As for whether a woman is a weak, exploitable vessel, I do not feel it is necessary to be that to... more

This story makes me angry, and I am going to write about why it does. Bare with me, I want to be brutally honest about why this story angers me so, and many adoptive parents may thoroughly disagree with my point of view. If you are not in a mood for such frankness today, don't say that I did not warn you!

What is there to say when the child you have come to embrace as your own is taken from you?

How do you grieve for the... more

Laws regulating adoption advertising differ from state to state. Some states allow newspaper ads which declare that potential adoptive parents are searching for a child, and they allow advertising in nearly every place one can imagine. Other states have strict prohibitions against such obvious methods and allow limited or no advertising.

Adoption advertising is legal in approximately 34 states. Private or independent adoptions are not allowed everywhere. Some countries or possibly some states require that all adoptions be handled through one... more