Have you been enjoying our impromptu look at birth parents and adoption issues around the world? Me too! It really wasn't my intention for a series of posts this week but other countries are just putting out a bunch of information and I'm gobbling it up! Today I learned a bit about birth parents in Barbados from a piece in The Nation Newspaper.

What I found most interesting was the age of birth parents in that country. While the Evan B Donaldson Adoption Institute study on birthparents taught... more

Australia is a beautiful place, don't you think? Beyond the beauty of the land, I'm always impressed with the way this country handles adoption issues. In an article dated yesterday, I could hardly contain my glee for the members of the triad living down under. Why? Let's jump right to the meat of the proposals being discussed (and the one that makes me most happy).

Under the proposed scheme adoptive parents will automatically receive... more

I loved the novel The English American (which I reviewed here). But I love this article even more. Why? I always prefer real life to novels. And this article is such a feel-good but honest adoption piece that... more

What? Does the title of this post make you scratch your head? Me too. It hails from this article which wears its own title of "Adoption in the Womb." My mind is spinning.

The story is out of Mexico. Some lawmakers are trying to combat abortion. Unfortunately, instead of starting with the actual problem (lack of sexual education and access to legitimate birth control), they're working on after-the-fact issues. Their idea, in case you couldn't guess, is... more

As you know, expectant mothers and involved fathers considering adoption have a right to choose parents for their child based on any number of reasons. If they want their child's parents to have pink hair and live next to Sting, they can search for those specific parents. But what about mothers (and, as such, fathers) who have had their children removed? Do they have any similar right?

Gets kind of sticky there, no? (Read on before you jump in with, "OMG NO RIGHTS ALLOWED" kind of comments.)

I bring this up because of a news story... more

I've spoken at length about the unethical practices plaguing the American adoption system with regard to how expectant mothers are treated before, during and after the adoption. I think it is also important to take a deeper look at how mothers in other countries are being taken advantage of by even more corrupt systems. I complain about how I was short-changed and lied to but my experience pales to this one coming out of Guatemala.

Now hush. I'm not launching into a debate about the legal happenings... more

I'm a domestic birth mother. My daughter was born in the United States and placed in the United States. On top of that, our adoption is fully open. I know where she lives and how to contact her family at a moments notice. I am luckier than mothers of domestic closed adoption, many of whom can only rely on hope of reunion. Beyond them, I am immensely more lucky than my sisters in adoption who happen to live in other countries and have children who were adopted into the United States.

This... more

Imagine losing your child because your husband was a drunken gambler. Sounds like something straight out of a bad Lifetime movie, doesn't it? Unfortunately, that has been the reality for a Chinese wife and mother for the past thirty-seven years.

You see, her husband, while drinking with a friend, said that if the child his wife was carrying ended up being a boy, well then, his drinking-buddy friend could have the child! You guessed it: the baby was a boy and the drunken, gambler decided... more

Learning about other countries and their customs and laws surely puts things in perspective. Another recent story out of India tells about forbidden love, unplanned pregnancy, an "almost" adoption and a happy ending. I mean, two happy endings on the birth parent blog in one week? It's kind of crazy up in here.

You see, it starts out with Manju, the mother in question. It turns out she is a (child-bride) widow. Her community forbids widows to marry again. (I'm curious as to whether non-widows are allowed... more

On Tuesday, I wrote about a Mother from India being faced with placing both of her daughters for adoption. A sad story full of death and politics from other cultures, my heart felt heavy when I last left the news story. The good news is that help has been pouring in for the mother and her two daughters.

A follow-up article sheds a little more light on the current situation and some hope on the... more