Although the US State Department has had an announcement of a suspension of Nepalese adoptions posted since mid-May, the news appears to just be getting around in some quarters.

Reporting that Nepal has suspended international adoptions, the Ministry of Children is quoted as saying, "“Child adoption from Nepal has been temporarily stopped... more

I have been asked about how a family member goes about kinship placement and the laws, can kinship placement go over state lines, etc.

Kinship foster care placement is done differently in every state and in some, it differs with each county. Some states are starting to get laws and guidelines on kinship placements. My advice to anyone thinking of providing kinship placement for a relative is to think about how this might change the family dynamic.

If you are a family member that is in the process or their children are in foster care, do not wait on the biological parents to provide names of family members willing to care for the children. Sadly, some biological... more

There is a Jewish idea that saving one life is equal to saving an entire world, for each person is unique and precious. There is also a great book of stories and lessons called "Saving the World Entire" by Rabbi Bradley R. Bleefeld and Robert L Shook. I was looking for this book online and then realized I had it sitting on my shelf all along.

There are, according to the book, about 100 parables from the Talmud - the collection of Jewish law (also referred to as the Oral Law). But the one from which the book takes its name was the one I was looking... more

Jenna has brought our attention to the North Carolina news of House Bill 455 and even interviewed Roberta MacDonald, who is chairwoman of the North Carolina Adoption Reform Coalition.

Originally the bill would have allowed adult adoptees in North Carolina rights to their original birth certificate. After it became clear that the bill as written would probably not be passed modifications were made to the bill which as written now would allow a licensed adoption agency to contact a birth... more

Dear Rabbit,

My precious daughter, were you too young, when you came to live with us, to remember why you couldn’t stay with your mom and dad? Seven years old is quite young, and you hadn’t lived with your parents for two years prior to coming to our family, so perhaps you don’t remember what it was like.

I hesitate to remind you, because I hate to reopen an old wound and cause you pain. However, I feel that I must, in an effort to save you before it is too late. You may think that I am being silly and overreacting; because you know,... more

My birth child had a tonsillectomy last week (on Love Thursday, ironically!). Knowing that it might be a few days before he could talk again, we called the children we are adopting to let them know about their brother’s surgery, and give them an opportunity to talk before the surgery. Before hanging up, my daughter (who is 5 going on 35), asked me to call her to let her know how the surgery went.

I thought this “sisterly concern” was adorable, especially in light of the fact that the kids aren’t even here yet. Clearly, they have bonded over these many months of phone calls, letters and our road trip... more

Kelly and I had lunch today with my friend Kathy. Kathy was one of three other moms who had a hand in starting ATN. Kathy’s contribution was by far the most significant of the three. (She's wearing the blue shorts.) Kathy was the worker behind the scenes. She mailed out lots of informational packets and helped develop our fledgling database.

I was connected with her through our therapist who had always wanted to get a local support group going. One of the other two moms, "Linda", was also... more

Owlhaven's post, “Adoption Loss: talking about the 'why'” made me think about my question of “Why”. She was talking about what to tell adopted children the reason their birth families had chosen adoption for them. I do not know of an adoptee that has not asked or thought numerous times, “Why did my birth parents give me away or even not love me?”

As an adoptee I was told that my birth mother was unable to take care of me so, she wanted my adoptive parent’s to be my mom and dad and take care of me. My parent’s did know more about my birth mother’s life but decided to share more details when... more

When you travel to Russia on your adoption journeys, chances are good you'll be seeing a lot of in-flight movies. Particularly if you travel to the Russian Far East, as I did twice in 2005.

Now I realize that in-flight entertainment is rarely the best indication of a movie maker's cinematic prowess. Forgoing the standard G, PG-13, etc. ratings system, a dear friend of mine rates movies this way: Big Screen, Small Screen, Airplane and Airplane No Sound. And most of the movies I saw on my trips to Sakhalin definitely fell into the latter category. So it... more

For those of you new to this blog wondering what in the world this love on Thursdays is all about, it is really just the one day of the week that some of us bloggers get personal and a tad sappy.

This week I am dedicating this blog to Ella’s youngest brother; the one she usurped for the position of “baby” in the family. But in my heart, he will always be my youngest son and she my youngest child.

With such a huge age difference, there is no fighting over toys or, “Mommy, he hit me,” types of things. When she first came home my son... more