Just a warning to the reading masses: This isn't a happy story.

Any parent's worst fear is having something devastating happen to their child. This fear does not magically dissipate when a Mother places her child. The fear still exists that something will happen to her child, only in the case of adoption, it is totally and completely out of her hands.

Meet Michele Launders. 25 years ago she placed her daughter for adoption through a lawyer that she paid $500.00 to arrange. Instead, the lawyer, Michael Steinberg, took the child home to his live-in girlfriend, Hedda Nussbaum, thus making... more

I frequently see on places like blogs and the fourms where people don't know the laws for their state regarding certain adoption practices. In fact, when I was placing, due to my lack of reliable internet, I also didn't know the laws regarding placement and adoption in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, my agency didn't think I needed to know. I think that's why I've become so involved in knowing where to find such information: so I can pass it on.

When looking up laws, for each state, regarding who can consent to adoption, when consent can be executed and so on, I rely on ChildWelfare.gov. They have a State... more

Serious and controversial are the rights of birth fathers. And with that comes the fifth recommendation in the Birthparent Study.

Recommendation 5: Require more aggressive protection of birthfathers’ rights by mandating their identification by birthmothers whenever possible, and by personally notifying all possible fathers of adoption proceedings. In states where putative father registries exist, they should be widely... more

No one chimed in on my request for opinions on the fourth recommendation, so I'll just say this: J & D lasted the required thirty days in the state of Pennsylvania. They didn't even avoid contact with me at that time out of fear that I'd think, "Aww, the kid sounds cute."

So why can't you?

It is my personal belief that if better counseling for expectant families (as followed by these recommendations and beyond)... more

Part One, Part Two and Part Three.

4a? Oh yes. Part 4a. This one may take a few posts to look at fully. It's controversial, heavy in subjectry and consequence and involves more than just the birth parent side of the triad. It needs a thorough look which I hope to accomplish. And now, the controversial fourth recommendation:

Recommendation 4: Modify state laws on the... more

Part One and Part Two.

Sorry, folks! I got distracted by turkey, stuffing and decorating our Christmas tree. Now it's time to jump back into the Evan B Donaldson Adoption Institute's recent Birthparent Study. Let's take a look at the third recommendation:

Recommendation 3: Require at least two counseling sessions with a qualified professional... more

Part One.

As I stated, I'm taking a look at the recommendations made by the Evan B Donaldson Adoption Institute's Birthparent Study. Their second recommendation is a big favorite of mine.

Recommendation 2: Require all adoption practitioners to provide a document of birthparents’ rights and responsibilities, which should be signed by the clients and the professionals near the beginning of their work together.

Hallelujah!

As I've stated before and was included in the... more

Now that the visit is over and I have time to sit here and give the report a thorough reading (in between chasing Nicholas around the room and cleaning up the mess of the visit), I'm going to tackle the Evan B Donaldson Adoption Institute's Birthparent Study. I've wanted to do this since it was published but it's hard with three children climbing on you. One should be easy to handle.

I... more

Holy smokes.

In New York, a court has ruled in favor of a birth mother, stating that she is entitled to visits with the child that she placed for adoption as an infant. Why?

The Court noted that the biological mother expressly conditioned the surrender on having continued contact with the child and that she maintained a relationship with the child for as long as she could until her efforts were frustrated by the department of social services and the adoptive mother.

The Court found that the child was aware that... more

Am I to understand that an open adoption is only open for as long as the adoptive parents want it to remain open? Are there any legal safeguards for the first parents who enter into an open adoption arrangement? Can first parents "refuse" to close an adoption that all the parties initially agreed would be an open adoption? Is the open adoption agreement written so that it states the adoptive parents have the right to close the adoption at any time, for any reason? Do the adoptive parents hold all the open/closed adoption cards?

Dr.... more