While grocery shopping this morning, I came across the June 4th edition of OK! Magazine. Sheryl Crow is smiling beautifully on the front cover, holding her newly adopted son who either looks annoyed with the camera or like he's about to poop. That's how it goes with three week old babies; their expressions are hard to read simply because they're mostly similar. I bought the magazine, wondering if there would be more information about the adoption itself. I read it over lunch. I processed a bit. And here I am.

As everyone knows, this was a domestic newborn adoption. Sheryl brought her son home at one day of age (and he was born four days after... more

Remember the incident in Utah a few months ago which involved young three pregnant teens? The young women tied up the director of the “home,” whacked her with a pan and then fled. There was some speculation that the young women wanted to keep their babies, and fled in part for that reason.

This article catches us up on the latest developments in the panwhacking case. "Pan-whacking,"... more

The stated purpose of this project:

The purpose of the CAP is to study both nature and nurture, to determine the genetic predispositions as well as the environmental influences that contribute to traits such as intelligence, personality, and behavior.

The Colorado Adoption Project ("CAP") is beginning its 31st year, and is therefore one of the longest running such studies in the United States.

When I first began to study adoption during reunion, I... more

An interesting, yet somewhat sad story from Law.com revolving around an adoptee's search for her biological mother, the Jell-O fortune and laws that, basically, suck. However, triumphant in the end, the daughter, Elizabeth McNabb, was just awarded money after taking the case to court.

Reading the article, we find that after the mother died, her will stated that her money be left to her living child[ren]. Elizabeth met... more

Apparently I'm all about adoption around the world as of late. I find it increasingly interesting to look at how other countries are handling the same issues. Today's news blurb comes out of Amsterdam.

While I don't know much of the underlying issues, the article seems to report that there are some fights going on with regard to medical ethical issues. While euthanasia is mentioned, the second half of the article talks about abortion which leads straight into a discussion on adoption.

Rutte also pointed out that the coalition wants to urge pregnant women to consider adoption... more

This Time Magazine article about crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) entitled "The Grass Roots Abortion War" is causing some buzz in the adoption community. There is mention of "making adoption easier," as a way of decreasing abortions.

They connected," nurse Joyce Wilson says, recalling the reaction of the women who saw the filmy image of their fetus onscreen. "They bonded. You could just see it.

One interesting feature about this... more

A study has been bebopping its way around the internet today, making an appearance on BloggingBaby, here on adoptionblogs by some good bloggers and on other adoption minded blogs throughout the blogosphere. Initially annoyed with the study (but not the bloggers!), I couldn't exactly put my finger on why I was annoyed.

After all, as I commented to someone else, I... more

Now Anna Mae, who turns 8 later this month, could soon be taken from the only family she has ever known and returned to her biological parents.

Children being returned to their first/birth parents is rare enough that it makes the news when it does occur. This story is no exception. It is of interest to me as well because it happened in the town where I grew up. It is important to note that an adoption had not occurred. The family raising Anna Mae were her foster parents.

Every so often I try to discuss ... more

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'll just start out with a quote from the offending article.

Worse, you have to suck up to the birth mother. She can pick any adoptive parent she wants. "After years of dealing with birth mothers who decided to take [babies] back ... watching poor families have to kiss these girls' butts when they know they are using drugs and alcohol in the pregnancy," Ryan says she began looking for ways to give clients more power over child acquisition. "It was a control thing for me," she explains.

Pardon me while I bang my head off of a desk.

The article, found on Slate.com,... more