Take a moment to read this article. Done? No? You need me to paraphrase for you? Okay. Basically, an expectant mother was working at a restaurant. One of her tables leaves and, along with their tip, they leave a card that reads, and I quote:

We wish to adopt a baby. We are a caring, happily married, financially secure and loving couple. We want to share our joy and love with a child.

There are many things wrong with this... more

I've written twice about the hosting-slash-fostering situation on the Monday evening drama One Tree Hill. Well, last week was the season finale and, in true television fashion, things had to be wrapped up before they left us hanging in other regards over the summer months. Of course, one of those things that was wrapped up in a neat little package and tied with an unrealistic bow... more

In a discussion about post-placement pregnancies, a member of the adoption forums said:

I don't feel like a mom, and she's said she doesn't feel like a grandma yet.

She went on to discuss how her current, post-placement pregnancy feels like a "first pregnancy" in many ways. I think the honesty of these words lend a lot to the discussion of post-placement pregnancies. I wish more... more

Many people touched by adoption know that May is National Foster Care month. While reforms are needed in foster care as well, I find this an easier month for me to acknowledge than November (which is National Adoption Awareness Month). However, I got to thinking about things the other night and I was struck by my lack of empathy and understanding.

While many foster parents and parents who have adopted from the foster care system might... more

Every now and then I forget that I'm an intelligent woman who can read books. By forgetting this, I get sucked into the horrible world of made-for-television movies on Lifetime. Oh, what a waste of a Sunday afternoon! Thanks to a tip from a friend, I wasted two hours watching a movie about stolen embryos. But that's not the worst of it. I continued watching the next movie. And, oh, was it special.

The Last Trimester, as you may have guessed since I'm writing on this blog, was about adoption.... more

Are you a fan of Post Secret? I am. Every Sunday, my Husband and I load the webpage and read through the secrets sent in by people on postcards. We own all four books, each of which was read through in a day's time. We find them interesting, sad, funny, alarming and every other reactionary measure you can have to someone else's secret. Some of them strike chords with us in different ways.

And, inevitably, there's always a postcard related to birth, abortion, pregnancy and/or adoption. This, of course, drives me... more

I wrote yesterday about the ways we can and cannot compare divorce and open adoption. I still maintain that the relationships between adults is an apples and oranges comparison. I still maintain that children aren't given the same choices in open adoption that they are in a divorced family as well. But, a commenter brought up the following scenario and, well, it broadened my opinion just a little bit.

Julia... more

I was happy to see a news story out of Canada. Seems that some adoptees are going to be allowed to access their original birth records and, as such, find out the identities of their birth parents. I was really gearing to jump up and down as I started reading.

Ontario's new law will help adoptees find out what their original names were, as well as who their birth parents were. It could also help birth parents learn the name their child was given after he or she was... more

A thread was started on the forums this past week asking if the relationship between adoptive and birth parents in an open adoption was comparative to that of ex-spouses in a divorce. Nothing like trying to compare two emotionally charged familial subjects! My initial reply was that the two subjects are apples and oranges. I explained it well in one of my replies so I'll just go ahead and quote myself. (Does that make me seem like I have... more

Wow. Let me tell you something. Writing about both Birthmother's and Mother's Day last week left me drained. The constant focus on two emotionally charged subjects left me with absolutely nothing to say until today. And really, all I have to say today is that I survived the hullabaloo.

To be honest, I'm always in kind of a hungover stupor in the aftermath of Mother's Day weekend. While I had a nice time with my Husband and boys, my emotions were on overdrive. I was on edge, which my Husband noticed but respected. I snapped a few times when I wish I could... more