Everyone loves a genuine celebration! What days do you celebrate with your adopted child?

Birthdays are an obvious choice. I love to celebrate the day of my child’s birth. Sometimes, especially with older kids who have memories of unpleasant birthdays in the past, they are nervous about celebrating birthdays. Sometimes kids will act up a LOT in anticipation of the birthday. I’ve known some parents who might say “Fine. Then we will not celebrate the birthday.” – or maybe just that they won’t have a party or gifts. I can understand... more

Traditional Manchu papercuts

The last couple of weeks have brought two stories of double adoptions that are almost mirror images of each other. The first is a story of double happiness. Californians Michelle Teofan and Karl Garcia applied to adopt from China, They were rejected because he's in a wheelchair (this was before the... more

I received confirmation that the SDAPRC is processing dossiers and handing out referrals and accepting new dossiers. They are just moving slower then expected. Dossiers are taking 30 to 40 business days to be approved rather then 20 days. They are accepting 5 new dossiers per week from American families rather than 8.

(My sources: US Embassy in Kyiv, a couple of blogs and a few emails)

We... more

Recent posts by Theresa and Cindy discussed how Mother’s Day is a hard day for their children which in turn can make it a hard day for themselves. I appreciated their posts as I had never thought about it from that point of view.

Mother’s Day is of course, a hard day for others in the adoption community as well. I don’t know that birthmothers experience the loss of their motherhood more... more

When you think of your childhood, what memories do you have? Do you remember playing red light green light? Flashlight tag? Taking a fishing pole to the nearest lake or river? Playing a great game of baseball with whoever happened to be around?

I love Family Fun magazine. It always has cute ideas of things to do with your kids, and more often than not, they encourage bonding and help to educate your child.

While I was waiting to get my haircut, I was flipping through the May issue.... more

Jewish Adoption Links List - a work in progress.

AGENCIES/ GROUPS:

Jewish Adoption FAQs - a good place to start - a page at the JCCA website.

Ametz Adoption - a program of the JCCA in New York. Although they do not provide adoption placement, they do homestudies, post-adoption services and other support. They do seem to provide some type of referral service to adoption attorneys if you're interested in going that route.

Adoption... more

YIKES! It’s Friday, and I’m far from ready. I knew it was coming, and I knew I was behind…from the beginning. We have a busy weekend planned. I’m headed with KayKay for a youth fundraiser. We are spending the weekend in the North Georgia mountains staffing a bike race (providing water and food at rest stops along the route). For that, the organizers are making a donation to our youth group’s upcoming church camp. So we’re headed out tonight.

By pure coincidence, one of Super Dad’s colleagues as work invited us to his mountain home and a sheepshearing... more

Search and reunion can be exciting and confusing times. Having some idea of what to expect, and how to handle various situations can be extremely helpful.

1) If you choose to make your first contact by mail, be certain that your letter is vague and non-revealing. You do not know who knows about the adoption, and it is best to let the found party control who they tell and when. 2) When the initial contact is by telephone, inquire as to whether the person is free to talk at the moment.... more

Our first trip to Cambodia in 2003 was to adopt our son, Sam, and a nerve-wracking experience it was.

When we returned in 2005 for our daughter, Cj, we were much more relaxed. Not only had we been through the adoption process once, therefore knowing what to expect at each step and finding it much easier to trust... more

I received a call from the high school guidance counselor who has been working with Amy this past year. I have thought several times about calling her, but have resisted the temptation. Because I can see online the status of Amy’s grades and attendance at school, I have known for a couple of weeks that things were going south. I debated calling the counselor, but what would I say? What could I possibly say or do that would change anything? The counselor already thinks negatively about me… I have gotten the vibes. She “sort of”... more