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

I know nothing about the UK. However, this showed up in my inbox and I just thought it was good information (and positive!) to share with my readers.

LAUNCH OF BIRTH PARENT SUPPORT SERVICE (FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24) A NEW support project, to help birth parents deal with the adoption of their children, is being launched by the St Francis' Children's Society on Friday, December 1, 2006 at the Judges' Lodgings, Aylesbury.

The Birth Family Support Service offers innovative provision. It has been commissioned by Buckinghamshire County Council, and will offer emotional... 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

Not much to say on this one as it speaks for itself. They are trying to get 1,000 signatures on the petition (regarding birthparents wanting open records for adoptees) by the New Year. If you are a birth parent, I urge you to read this petition and sign it if you fall into this category.

No Confidentiality Promised for Birthmothers.

Currently there are 813 signatures, including my own. As I just mentioned in my last thankful post, I am all for opening records for adoptees. If, God forbid, something happened to me or the adoption,... 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

You can click here and select one of any of the 108 articles in which I'm mentioned today. They include the Washington Post and ABC News. However, I've only found pictures on two sites thus far: The... more

I don't have time to write at this specific moment. Today is Nick's birthday party and we are about to be descended upon by hoards of family and friends. However, you need to read this now.

It is a Birthparent Study and subsequent call for reforms by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute. I personally participated in the survey and am intrigued (and simultaneously saddened) by their findings. The full report (first link above) has a lot more... more

Goodness, I love technology. I stumbled across this gem tonight while searching for new adoption feeds. It's an article in The Korea Times that features a DVD about the birthmothers (from Korea) that were forced, unwillingling, to place their children for adoption.

The DVD itself is called Resilience. The story gets more and more interesting as we're introduced to a Pastor who runs a guesthouse (for lack of a better word) for adoptees returning to Korea to search for their birthmothers and answers to their questions. The Pastor then contacted a Korean... more

I usually try to stick to writing about what I personally understand and/or have experienced. I like to have the first hand frame of reference when sharing information. To me, it makes it seem more genuine. Yet, every so often, a story about adoption pops out of nowhere and into my inbox (thanks go Google alerts) and I am moved to tears.

We often hear about the Baby Scoop era here in the United States. (For more on the time frame, read Ann Fessler's book, The Girls Who Went Away.) As Americans, we often think that our own history is... more