Teen pregnancy seems to have been in the news a lot lately with the unplanned pregnancy announcement of sixteen year old Nickelodeon star, Jamie Lynn Spears and all the talk about the film Juno which is about a teen who experiences an unplanned pregnancy and then places her baby for adoption. Now, the ABC soap opera, One Life to Live, will be featuring their own teenage unplanned pregnancy storyline. According to a producer from One Life to Live they were already working on the unplanned pregnancy... more

I am continuously surprised by the similarities in children with fetal alcohol effect. The similarities are sometimes odd issues, that wouldn’t seem to have anything to do with fetal alcohol effect. That is one of the reasons I am so glad to have this opportunity to exchange information with so many adoptive parents of special needs children. It really helps us to accept our children’s behavior by realizing that it is due to brain damage and not their choice. I was recently sharing information with an adoptive mom about my teenage daughter with fetal alcohol effect who likes... more

These were LuLu’s first words Sunday morning as she bound out of bed on the long-awaited day. LuLu had set and reached a personal goal: to sing with the children’s choir on Palm Sunday. LuLu, who for years has not participated in children’s choir because the children make “unexpected noise” that overwhelms her senses and her behaviors have always alienated her from interacting with the other children, watched with great envy as the choir sang at Christmas.

“I wish I could do that,” she sighed. I told her I thought she was able, if she wanted. But that she... more

Several years ago, before we matched with Amigrace’s birthmother, we tried to adopt a new born with Cystic fibrosis. We did quite a bit of research on this life threatening disorder and even found out where our local support groups met. We understood that the disease causes severe lung damage and nutritional deficiencies but we were committed. Therefore, we were quite disappointed when another family was chosen to adopt the baby girl. However, God had another plan for us so that one wasn’t meant to be. Sometimes that is hard... more

Last week LuLu damaged some of Kay’s toiletries in a move of pure jealousy. It was not the first time. LuLu, in the height of her puberty, has decided that Kay is the target of her frustration. It is sibling rivalry in which the sides are definitely uneven. Kay does nothing to provoke these incidents, but her response is so dramatic that LuLu gets a “thrill” out of upsetting Kay.

No amount of explaining the logic of staying calm to Kay seems to be working. Kay’s logic is that she’s not “doing anything” to LuLu, so why should she have to put up with LuLu “doing things”... more

In my previous blog I said that I would address the foster care licensing paperwork as a separate blog. The application that I have is fourteen pages long in itself, in addition to all the other paperwork that we need to fill out just to get the home study started.

The licensing checklist also doubles as an informative paper. It lists several different areas of licensing, statutes and regulations and asks that you acknowledge that have read and understand... more

Part 1

As you can tell by the fact that this is a two part blog, the initial paperwork is quite extensive. Here is a continuation of the paperwork that you can expect to fill out.

Releases – if you have worked with any counselors in the past (or currently) the agency may want to contact the counselor and make sure that any condition has been resolved or is currently handled with medication. If the counseling has been related... more

Since our family is going through the home study process ourselves right now, I thought I’d share exactly what’s going on, not just a theoretical version.

We received our application packet from the adoption agency that is doing the home study. It is full of paperwork to be filled out, releases to sign, and other information that we need to provide.

Here is what we have to fill out: The adoption application itself – This asks for general information about residents of the household, contact information, education,... more

Not too many people like to spend an awful lot of time about thinking about what happens to their possessions should they pass, parents of all types should put some time and effort into making sure their wills are always up-to-date. Right now, of course, I'm going to talk about birth parents. Even more specifically, I'm talking to birth parents who want to make sure that their relinquished children inherit something upon their death.

The laws vary from state to state and that is why it is important for each first parent to know the laws that govern their... more

Are you close to the end of your pregnancy? By the end of a pregnancy, most women are so ready to have their babies. Towards your due date, you are probably feeling huge and uncomfortable. You are getting anxious and may be looking forward to your pregnancy being over and meeting the little person you have been carrying around for nine months face to face. However, if you are actively making an adoption plan, you may be dreading the end of your pregnancy at the same time.

I honestly was dreading the end of my pregnancy with Charlie. I was filled with mixed emotions of... more