Few things strike fear in the hearts of parents like the threat or news of kidnapping. The kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby and subsequent search in 1932 held the whole country by the throat ... H.L. Mencken called it the "biggest story since the Resurrection" ... and led to the federal laws we have today.

The ... more

I just came across a great booklet published by Plan UK, one of the largest child-centered community development organizations in the world. They have just published a 98-page report entitled Because I Am a Girl.

They address the gender inequality that exists around the world, but is stark and dramatic in many areas of the world, including Africa. It's fascinating, really, but sadly, not too surprising. Girls are getting a raw deal. Despite having the same rights as their brothers, they face discrimination even before they are born. There are an estimated 100 million missing women... more

The US State Department recently issued a report on the Lubuto libraries in Lusaka, Zambia.

The Lubuto Library Project was started by an American woman - Jane Kinney Meyers - who believes that, in addition to food and shelter, every child deserves a chance to learn and to hope for a better future. Lubuto is a word in the Bemba language of Central Africa that means "enlightenment, knowledge and light.

The project has taken shape as a Washington nonprofit organization that is... more

Back in April I mentioned that Ukrainian Adoption Reunion Season had started. One of my favorite gatherings (that I still haven't managed to attend) is the Father's Day weekend at the Ukrainian resort (Soyuzivka) in upper state New York.

The majority of people who attend have adopted from Ukraine. But preadoptive parents are welcome too.

I know people who went last year and greatly enjoyed... more

Today, I went back to work. Things are wild on the home front tonight! I honestly had not realized aspects of the impact it would have on some of my kids.

Were they not ready for mom to go out to work? Will they ever be ready? How can an adoptive mom know?

I’ve worked before, but it has been a couple of years. (Even then, my part-time schedule was so varied and odd that I think some kids weren’t even aware that I had an outside job!)

Two years ago, we moved to a new city. My husband returned to school... more

Out of the London Sun today was the news that Madonna’s adoption of 18 month old Malawian child, David Banda, will be challenged by a Malawian human right’s group. The group has stated an intent to prove in the country’s high court that the adoption is illegal, because apparently there are no defined laws that currently allow for international adoptions there. To my own understanding there are no defined laws, but due to Madonna’s interest in adopting, the high courts were reviewing... more

So much for hoping the U.S. government would have an enlightened attitude on the fees it charges for adoption-related documents.

According to a statement issued today, effective July 30, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will be slapping a whopping 38% increase on the cost of an I-600A. Fingerprinting costs will rise to $80 from $70 for each member of an adoptive household over the age of 18. And the price of a citizenship certificate... more

One of my biggest concerns with adopting a second time was the possibility of having different levels of openness in the two adoptions. My son’s adoption was a semi-open one in which we met his birthmother before he was born, and we agreed to send her pictures and letters twice a year. She has since stopped receiving the packages, although I still put them together in case she changes her mind.

When I went through... more

As a member of the adoption triad, we all need support and others who have experienced or are experiencing the same things we are experiencing. Personally speaking, my family and friends try very hard to be supportive but no one truly gets it as a birthmom does.

I realized this just days after coming home from the hospital after giving birth to and relinquishing Charlie. My friends and family tried so hard to support me but they just didn’t truly understand the feelings I was experiencing.

Sleepless, alone, and desperate one night in those... more

If you took a foreign language in school, do you remember the first time you actually thought in that language rather than your first language? Do you remember ever dreaming in your second language? I remember that happening in Spanish and American Sign Language both, and they were pretty exciting milestones.

My son Caleb, has hit some of those milestones. When he talks in his sleep, I have noticed he no longer does so in Chinese, but rather in English. He no longer thinks first in Chinese and then translates his thoughts into English to say... more