Sasha is an 13 year old boy who was adopted from Ukraine by Americans. The child was diagnosed with RAD. And the family tried an alternative placement before they put him into a Ukraine Psychiatric Hospital. US child welfare workers arranged for Sasha to return to the United States in December 2006. There were some additional stories.

So the update... Washington... more

Many times distance between the custodial parent and the non-custodial parent causes the non-custodial parent to be less involved in their child’s life than they anticipated after the divorce, or birth of their child. When the biological family does not work out as a family unit, there are often hard feelings between the two parents, and it is not uncommon for one parent to move away from the other, in an attempt to make a fresh start, or in some cases to purposely put distance between the non-custodial parent and the child.

Once there is considerable... more

OK, where shall I start with my review of An Unlit Path? Cindy Bodie blogged about it here. And her stellar review prompted me to get the book off my shelf, where it had lain since I received it last fall, in the midst of the complete and utter chaos of a household move.

I hardly know where to start… and I am so rarely at a loss for words. Deborah captured the roller coaster ride of living with emotionally disturbed children in a way I have not... more

After the birthparents’ parental rights terminated, the agency held an adoption ceremony for our new family. We invited family and friends to celebrate with us at the adoption agency. The agency provided a cake with our son’s full name on it. They also gave our son a blue teddy bear with angel’s wings to commemorate the event.

In addition to the agency director, the social worker who had counseled the birthmother was there to celebrate along with us. The social worker had been in the delivery room with Nicholas... more

Several years ago, Gladys Knight's son was the first member of her family to look at the Church. After he got baptized, her daughter came next.

Sister Knight described her search for God's true church, which came after the baptism of her children:

"I was raised in a Baptist home. We spent all day on Sunday at church. I was kind of all over the place religiously. I was a Baptist and then a Catholic and then I went to several other churches. I was seeking. There was something good in every one of those churches, but I thought... more

When I came across this article about Gladys Knight, I knew I wanted to share it here. I was particularly touched at the mention members of the Haitian branch attending one of her performances! :)

Gladys Knight Tells Floridians, "This is the Light" By Geoffrey Biddulph for Meridian Magazine

Gladys Knight and her 60-person choir of Latter-day Saints gave four performances for more than 5,000 people in southern Florida last week.

"This is... more

As an LDS mom of adopted Black children, nothing thrills me more than meeting and learning about other Black church members. The church is growing by leaps and bounds in places like Nigeria and Ghana, and is finally gaining a solid footing in American cities with large African American populations such as Cleveland. The Genesis Group has long been a beacon of light and source of support to LDS Church members of color, and the numbers of well-known Black LDS members, even though small, are steadily growing.

This... more

Part 3 http://kazakhstan.adoptionblogs.com/weblogs/how-to-talk-to-young-children-about-adop-3

Part 4

Shared with permission

I did NOT attempt to talk him out of his feelings, but listened and empathized. In this way, I knew that he would get the feelings on the outside so that they would no longer have the power to hurt him and he could begin to change them himself. No one appreciates or feels understood when they share their feelings with someone who dismisses them, doesn't accept them, as is, and fails to acknowledge them. Neither do others feel understood when... more

Argghhh! To say this was another crazy day would be the understatement of the century. Hardly anything I planned to do got done…. But that is not to say it hasn’t been a productive day. It is horribly cold here, so walking just doesn’t seem appealing, not to mention since I didn’t stretch yesterday before doing my 4+ miles, my shins are screaming today… This is the first time…late in the afternoon…that I have had a moment to blog.

I started the day by having a telephone conversation with the therapist that prompted me... more

Part 1

Many of the statistics and facts in the article will probably not be surprising to you. Here are just a few of them.

Most of the parents interviewed said the abuse began when the child was between 12 and 14.

Sometimes youth who are abusive toward their parents have themselves been the victims of physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse.

It is recognized that children who witness violence are at a greater risk of developing behavior problems,... more