To end the series on personal stories of adoption and marriage, I decided I should hit on my own experience. I answered my own interview questions, the same that were sent to our other participants. My story is my own but at the same time, echoes of what others have already said and experienced are found throughout my own words. Circumstance and situation may differ but certain things seem to float across that board.

As you know, I'm a birth mother involved in a fully open adoption. At the time of my wedding, the Munchkin was too... more

As I continue to share stories about weddings, marriage and adoption from other birth parents, an important issue to hit on is when birth parents of the (same) placed child marry. It is a long-standing myth within the adoption world and society at large that birth parents had no caring feelings for one another, were only a one night stand or that the majority of birth parents can't remember their partner's name. Tara and her Husband, Chad, involved in a fully open adoption with their son, disprove... more

In an interesting discussion on the forums, spawned from real life events, we have been mulling over the reasons why people on the internet join forums and various support groups claiming to be a birth mother when, in fact, they have never signed the Termination of Parental Rights. Different from scammers who wish to get money out of potential adoptive families, the purpose of these fakers isn't really known or understood.

When the conversation... more

I interviewed Breanna, a birth mother involved in a fully open adoption, regarding how adoption is having an effect on her wedding plans. Newly engaged with the wedding still some time away, she is smart enough to recognize some key issues regarding adoption and marriage and is addressing them ahead of time. For any birth parent in an open adoption planning a wedding or thinking of marriage sometime in the future, this interview is a must-read. Again, as situations vary from family to family, Breanna's experience may not... more

Last month I did a loose series (which means it accidentally became a series of related posts) on topics that surround weddings and marriage as they pertain to first parents. I promised to include personal stories from birth parents who have things to say on the matter. I'm just now getting around to finally collecting this information and sharing it with my readers.

Starting on Monday of next week, I will be sharing various stories on the matter. As always, the mothers that I surveyed include an array of both... more

In previous entries about weddings and marriage, I have spoken about the need to be open and honest with your significant other about the existence or presence of your placed child. The question with that topic that often arises is: When do I broach the subject? It's not an easy subject to jump into, especially with someone you're just getting to know and think you could have feelings for on a deeper level than a casual acquaintance. So what's the "right" protocol?

While it will differ for everyone on specifics, I encourage birth... more

As I mentioned yesterday, we went to Nick's first costume party. He got many compliments on his little lion cub costume. Though he was called a girl at one point and asked what is "costume" was while fingering the Mei Tai. Of course, these both came from the same lady so I'm not too flabbergasted.

However, less than an hour later, flabbergasted was my middle name. I've written about it on the forums to get some feedback but it also needs to be written about here. Why? Because I didn't know this... more