Adoption Blogs

It is not the "same difference". Recently, Beauty and I went out to do a bit of grocery/household shopping. We frequently go as a family of four, and this day was no exception. My husband was taking Bear to the restroom, so Beauty and I shopped about. She sat in the cart as she usually does, holding and pilfering through the coupons and my shopping list, chatting up a storm. We paused in an aisle loaded with pajamas (Beauty's weakness--she loves to obtain/receive new pajamas!) and as we were hunting through the racks, a woman stopped beside us to compliment Beauty's, well, beauty. "What big eyes she has! And such long hair with cute hair bows! Is she Mexican?" I thanked her… [more]

I am very open about adoption's role in building my family. My husband and I married while I was pregnant, and he adopted Bear a few months after his birth. Beauty is adopted from Guatemala. Suffice to say, adoption is a big, beautiful part of my life. I've noticed that many people assume that both my children are adopted (which they are, by my husband). It doesn't bother me, but when the conversation of pregnancy versus adoption arises, many times I get hit with the infamous question: which is harder, pregnancy or adoption? Oh, boy. In short, you really can't compare the two; it's apples to oranges. While pregnancy has an approximate start-to-finish time; adoption usually… [more]

For those of you who have your children home with you for the holidays - Congratulations! Now that the holidays are upon us, you might find yourself traveling with said children. In Jack's first year, we took six planes, all over the country, and two trains from Massachusetts to New York and back. We became instant experts on traveling with an infant. If you are going to fly with an infant under 14 days old, get a doctor's note! I called the airline we flew with Jack, and asked them if I needed one. The customer service rep said no. Imagine my surprise when we were almost arrested for not having said note. It's a long story, but the point is, even if the… [more]

It is amazing how the word mom means so many different things to different people.  I wish life were more simple, but it is not and in fact it seems to be getting more complicated all the time. I choose to write about this subject under the category of Transracial adoption because the fact that we are obviously different does make the "mom title" very important. Mita especially is confused as to "who" I am and will often say step mom or refer to her Ethiopian mom as her "real" mom.  I have to admit that the step mom thing bothered me quite a bit.  Not that I am against step parenting, but to me a step mom is someone who chooses to… [more]

A birth mother in an open adoption wrote a letter to Dear Abby with a question (the third letter on this page) a lot of us have had at one point or another in our adoption journeys. Nine years after the birth and placement of her child, now in her 20's, she was wondering how to address adoption and her role when discussing the topic with others. Her question was specific as to what her answer should be when she is asked if she has children. Abby's answer missed the mark. DEAR BIRTH MOTHER: You are under no obligation to give chapter and verse about your personal history to anyone who is only an acquaintance. If you are asked if you have children, just say no because you are not raising… [more]

I'll admit it: I'm a fan of the show Glee. I may be well out of the target demographic for the show but having been a musical theater dork in high school, it hits a soft spot in my heart. Add in jazzy music numbers, men who can sing and some hilarious exchanged and I am a fan for life. Except for that whole pregnant teen issue. It's not the pregnant teen that has me feeling icky. Teenagers get pregnant whether they're taught about safe sex methods or members of an abstinence club like Quinn, the character in the show who is pregnant. What has left me feeling icky are all of the dramatic issues surrounding her pregnancy. Let's take a brief look.

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Enu threw a raging fit the other day.  The worst one ever regarding physical abuse (to me).  After all was calm and Hubby had come home to help me, we discussed what caused the outburst, what we did right and no so right.  It seems a tad bit humerous that I had been bitten and spat upon twice and yet we were excited over two things.  One was that it had been three months since her last outburst (the longest period of calm she has ever had) and two was that it was short lived (about 25 minutes) and she rebounding very quickly. Parents of older adopted children can see why we are so happy about the above mentioned fit.  My mom, however… [more]

• Jack's birthday
• Her

Recently, someone asked me the following question: "What do you even write about for the Guatemalan blog at AdoptionBlogs.com, seeing how Guatemala is closed for adoptions?" Well, if you've been reading so far, you know I write on a little bit of this and a little bit of that--my own experiences as a proud Guatemama and our journey to  Beauty, as well as anything related to Guatemala in general. I've mentioned in passing that I frequent Guatadopt, as it is one of my favorite sites on the web for current and breaking information regarding Guatemalan adoptions. A few days ago, Guatadopt linked to Guatemala 900 and my heart sank a bit reading the latest update. For… [more]

I was sitting in my living room, minding my own business when a promo came on the television for a new show. Maybe you've heard of it? Find My Family is a show set to debut on ABC, a channel I rarely watch, on November 23rd. The premise of the show is to reunite family members who have, in the words of the press release, "lost touch." Included in that are, of course, birth parents and the children they relinquished for adoption. The press release can be read here. A unique spin on this particular spinoff of the idea we've seen presented on television over the past few years is that the two searchers on the show are both adoptees. This could be good… [more]