As with any type of parenting, you often get blindsided by oddball issues that you just don’t know how to handle. One such issue presented itself tonight, and I think I handled it all wrong!

When we adopted our children, we kept their last names as their middle names. For my son, we took his first and middle names (both short names) and made it into one hyphenated name, and left his previous last name as his middle name. I wasn’t crazy about how it sounded, but, I wanted them to have some sense of “normalcy” and at their ages (respectively 4 and 5 at the time)... more

The actress, Edie Falco, who is most closely associated with her role as Carmella Soprano on The Sopranos, recently adopted a daughter, Macy, according to unconfirmed reports posted at several online venues. This is the second child, and second adoption for Ms. Falco, aged 44. Macy joins big brother, Anderson, who is currently 3 year old. Anderson was adopted in 2005, and was named after the mother of the actress, whose maiden name was Anderson.

Falco joins other recent celebrity adoptive parents, including:

Julie Haddon (The Biggest Loser, Season... more

My children’s birth aunt will be getting married next month. According to my children’s maternal birth grandmother, she’ll be sending us pictures and a copy of the invitation for the kids. We’ve seen pictures of her intended via e-mail and the children are very excited. The children and I are working on a joint gift for her that we hope she and her new husband will enjoy!

It’s been wonderful to continue to have our open adoption with the children’s birth family. My two youngest share the same mom, and have an older brother in the care of this grandmother.... more

It is hard to believe that it is already the end of April! May is going to be a super busy month for me, so I probably will not be around as much as usual.

One of the things I will be busy with is the Birthmother’s Get Together that BirthMom Buds hosts each year. It is on May 10th this year in Charlotte, North Carolina. It seems to get a little bigger and better every year. I’m especially excited about this year as we have added some elements that I have wanted to have since we started having these but we knew we had to start... more

A panic attack is defined as suddenly feeling intense fear that develops for no apparent reason and triggers severe physical reactions. Some people feel like they are having a heart attack or possibly dying during a panic attack. Certainly, there is fear in losing control. They can make your heart pound, cause dizziness, nausea, and shortness of breath. While a panic attack would be frightening for anyone, it must be terrifying for a child. A child just placed with an adoptive or foster family probably... more

I found today’s Dr. Phil show very interesting as it pertained to Putative Father Registries. On the show, we were introduced to Bryce, a man from Oregon in his mid 30’s. He is now fighting for his baby girl, who is about five months old and living with the people who want to adopt her. The adoption is not final yet as Bryce is fighting for custody of this little girl.

Bryce’s ex-girlfriend, Esther, had gotten pregnant and wanted to place the baby for adoption. He repeatedly told her no, that he wanted to raise their baby.... more

As a corollary to yesterday’s post about the Game of Life, I am reminded of a parable of Jesus:

Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, "In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. “There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, 'Give me legal protection from my opponent.' For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he... more

I’ve been missing-in-action for a few weeks. And today I’m blogging just to say my farewells. After 27 months of being an Adoptionblogs blogger, I’m hanging up my keyboard. It’s been a marvelous experience. After more than two years of daily blogging about parenting children with special needs, I’ve covered many of the topics we all face daily. We’ve talked about a lot of things, from specific disabilities and interventions to the commonality in the struggles all children with disabilities face to the need for strong advocacy for our children in schools, the medical... more

If you read one book about parenting special needs children this year...this one is IT! The Elephant in the Playroom is a compilation of essays written by parents of children with special needs, and eloquently compiled by Denise Brodey, editor in chief of Fitness magazine, and mom to a son with sensory integration dysfunction. Ms Brodey has captured the very essence of life as the parent of a “special” kid. I found myself laughing, crying and furiously... more

Stories like this one are why many different states are struggling to open records for adoptees. Turns out that an adoptee was jailed for three years for stalking and harassing his birth mother because she didn't want to reunite. I'm sure that those opposed to opening records have cited or will use this case as their prime example to keep those records sealed forever.

But they're missing the point.

This mentally disturbed individual... more