A story in today's news, although heartwarming and hopeful, has me feeling more than a bit sad.

The focus is on adults adopted from Viet Nam as children who are now returning to their birth country for their own children, noting that agencies dealing with adoptions from the country are reporting a growing number of parents are "making the same trip their adoptive parents took more than three decades ago."

There... more

Recently, Heather refreshed the memory of her readers, by clearly sharing her core views about adoption. For those who might be a bit “hard of reading”, they were in bold so the point could be easily grasped. I was not surprised by anything there, her views have remained the same as they were years ago when she wrote a publication for the organization C.U.B., “What you should know if you are considering adoption for your baby”.

At... more

The truth is that not every person is cut out to be a foster parent. We all have should have some responsibility for the foster children. Some of us can make an ongoing commitment that will involve our time like tutoring, big brother or sister, child advocate, etc. While with others time can be a factor, and they just do not have extra time. You do not have to make a major financial commitment either to help foster children in care.

Even something as easy as purchasing a duffle bag, suitcase or a pair of pajamas can be a great way to help the children in foster care. Theses are not things that will break your pocketbook either. Below, you will find some ways, and other ideas to... more

As a parent, spouse, co-worker – plain old human being – you are going to be angry sometimes. However, we’ve learned that, though God sanctions anger, He puts a prohibition on it. So, it begs the question, “How can we be angry and not displease God?”

Galatians 5 (“The Fruits of the Spirit”) provides some clues:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against... more

“Be angry; and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger" (Ephesians 4:26)

This verse tells us two important things – first off, God gives us permission to be angry at times! However, and secondly, there is a caveat – there is a way to express that anger that spills over into sinful activity. So, what are the "danger signs?"

For some answers, let’s look at 1 Corinthians (the “Love Chapter”):

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not... more

A father of an 11 month old boy that was abandoned earlier this month in a hospital parking lot in Delaware is facing charges on child endangerment and abandonment. The police are also looking into the disappearance for the toddler’s mother last seen June 7 with her son and boyfriend. The last time she was heard from was June 8, her six year old son that lives with his father talked with her.

The boyfriend is being called a person of interest by police. Police are still investigating whether... more

A new state reports that the state is still failing the children in foster care. There are a few areas that they have talked about changing things. Some totally make sense and should have happened long ago, while other changes could be a step back instead of improving.

First major area of concern is the high caseloads, burnout and high turn over with their caseworkers. Caseworker caseload involves 20 to 30 cases per worker. I do believe the caseload is too high due to the amount of work involved with each child. I do know that other... more

I could not conclude this series without doing a section on happiness. It may feel like an odd emotion to include for the birthmother side of the adoption triad but in open adoption, there are moments of happiness.

Sometimes because there is so much loss and sadness involved in adoption from the birthmother’s point of view, that it is just nice to take a few minutes and focus, think of, and remember the moments that I smiled and felt happy.

Happiness is defined as a state of contentment or a pleasurable experience or activity. Keeping the latter... more

Long ago I wrote about the author Francisco Goldman and promised a book review of his first novel. What can I say…Francisco Goldman is an intelligent and eloquent writer, yet rather wordy at times. His knowledge of Guatemala is first hand and his relationship with the country rather complex. He writes during the dark period of the Guatemalan Civil War, a brutal war that raged for thirty years. During this period it was not uncommon for people to... more

Do I need the consent of my older stepchild in order to complete a stepparent adoption? This is a question that is asked quite frequently and the answer to it is yes, consent is needed to adopt a stepchild who is usually twelve and older. I say usually because laws vary from state to state, and even county to county so I am sure there are places where the age is either slightly older, or slightly younger than twelve.

While some parents are upset over the fact that a child could potentially hold up an entire adoption proceeding by not giving consent to the adoption,... more