I had to re-read this because I couldn’t believe my eyes – an Emory University student’s mother calling a Wall Street firm to reconsider her child’s rejected internship? And this was after the student had missed a sitdown session and canceled a phone interview.

Today’s Atlanta Journal Constitution enumerates the hyper-hovering of baby boomer parents over their offspring. It cites examples of parents attending job... more

My youngest son just turned five-years-old this weekend. Not only did he have a great party at Chuck E. Cheese with all of his little friends, and get his very own bicycle amongst a slue of other cool toys, but he also got to sign up to play soccer! It just so happened that the team that his little friend is on, was short a player. Since the boy’s parents are good friends of ours, and they coach the team, we were... more

When you go through the home study process, the social worker will talk with your child about the adoption. So, you will (obviously) need to talk with your child about the adoption, too. You will probably have many conversations with your child throughout the adoption process because he will have the same kinds of questions that any child would have about adding a sibling as well as questions related to the adoption process itself.

When we went through the adoption process, my son was only three years... more

As someone who adopted domestically, I believed that one big difference between domestic and international adoptions was the level of openness available. In a domestic adoption, the parties can choose whether to have an open, semi-open, or closed adoption, and even in a closed adoption, the adoptive family might learn at least a little bit about the birthfamily. I always assumed that information about the birthfamily would not be available when adopting internationally and that maintaining any contact after the adoption... more

Birth parents who become involved in the adoption reform movement invariably meet many adoptees. We meet them at conferences, open records marches and support groups.

Through our contact with adoptees, we hear their different stories. Their stories are as varied as they are. There are no all happy or all sad stories. We get to know them and become particularly empathetic towards and fond of adoptees in general.

People who involve themselves in adoption issues often attend conferences and retreats. The subjects presented at these... more

Yesterday I spoke on the phone with one of the most awesome moms I know. She is parenting what my friend Julie affectionately calls “The Combo Platter Kid.” Only this mom’s kid is a different kind of combo platter than Julie’s LuLu is.

I have blogged about this mom before. She has really struggled herself to understand her son’s behaviors and how best to intervene.... more

In my last post, I wrote about my personal story of finding another birthmother to support me in my new journey of birthmotherhood. It took a little searching, but I was able to find Lani pretty early on in the process.

The good thing about online support is it is not intimidating and a good way to get a feel for the adoption world. If you are a new to the adoption triad, are “coming out of the closest” about your position in the triad, or have not felt comfortable... more

Most people like to be in control of their lives. When it comes to adoption, many birth parents feel as if they were not in control, completely or even remotely, of the decision that lead to the placement of their child. In the events that surrounded the pregnancy and decision making process, the expectant parents may have felt completely helpless. Either frozen by fear or forced to do something that was against their will by family or other people, many look upon that time period as the most helpless in their lives. It is no surprise that many birth parents... more

Where is it? Arkhangelsk Oblast, or region, is about 600 miles north of Moscow, just shy of the Arctic Circle. It has nearly 2,000 miles of coastline on the Barents, Kara and White seas. It is in the same time zone as Moscow.

What's the biggest city? Arkhangelsk city accounts for 356,051 of the 1,336,539 people in the region. Other big cities are Severodvinsk (once known as Molotovsk after Vyacheslav Molotov, Stalin's foreign affairs minister and creator of the eponymous incendiary device), which... more

I haven’t blogged in a couple of days because our house has been in complete turmoil. Sammy was home on a pass for the weekend, and things did not go well. You may read the details here.

I was tense all weekend and kept Sammy within line of sight at all times, or in his room with the alarm on. The constant yo-yo that we are on with him has us contemplating the D word. I don’t mean divorce or Dallas, I mean disruption. Actually, in technical... more