There are times when being a birthparent creeps up on me unexpectedly. While my son is never too far from my thoughts, I don’t think about adoption twenty four hours a day, seven days a week and while I am a birth mother and my role in Charlie’s life is very important to me, it’s just one of the many hats I wear. So, I’ll be minding my own business (so to speak) watching television or reading, and boom! There’s something regarding birthparents right in front of my face.

The premiere of the Beverly Hills 90210 spin off is a prime example. From what I had read about... more

When adopting an older child chances are highly likely that your child remembers members of the birth family and may want to have ongoing contact with the birth family. Likewise, birth family members may want to continue contact with your child.

This can be a threatening option, or it can be a great way for you to learn about your child’s early life. Contact can range from siblings to grandparents or even birth parents.

The first thing is to assess the appropriateness of the various family members in your child’s life. Some of this may have already been determined... more

It seems that once again unplanned pregnancy and teen pregnancy is in the spotlight as the news of the unplanned pregnancy of Sarah Palin’s (the Republican Vice Presidential Candidate) came to light. I honestly debated whether or not I wanted to write about this. The media is reporting on this a lot at the moment but I also think that there are lessons to learn and things to think about as a result of this situation becoming public.

First of all, I feel sorry for Bristol Palin. If you have experienced an unplanned pregnancy your self, I’m sure you can relate to the... more

I hate stories like these because they are negative in nature. Yet I'd be remiss if I didn't mention this one on the blog. In our state, we had two children die last month as a result of being left in a hot car. While it is now September, it is even hotter than it was last month in our area. So, this story just made me cry.

In short, a nine month old died as a result of being left in a hot car by her foster mother.... more

When a new child enters your home, it may be confusing as to what the child should call you. Do you want to start out with Mom and Dad right away? Does it make a difference if the child is a foster child?

There are many differing opinions on this. When Sammy first joined our family he called us by our first names. He didn’t think of us as Mom and Dad. He’d been through several of those already. The day/night he changed was when my cousin came over to play with him. My uncle is only 4 years older than I am so his kids are close the same ages as my kids. As... more

I could have spit nails at the television. I will admit to not catching the whole episode because I kind of forgot that it was on. But I caught over half of the premiere of the "new" 90210. As a young girl, I watched the original Beverly Hills, 90210 every week into my teens (when I ditched the last season or so for Dawson's Creek, of course). I didn't have much hope for the new show. Spin-offs are, in my opinion, never as good as the original. And it seemed that revisiting an idea just eight years later (that's right, it finished in 2000, people) seems to be a... more

Our kids may not always have the ethnic background that we do, whether by race or family make up. Some of us are parenting in inter racial families and some of us are parenting trans culturally and others are parenting children who may physically look like us but have children with different ethnic origins than we do.

We can celebrate our child’s culture whether it’s a different state or a different country and it doesn’t have to be difficult or make the child feel different.

My children look like they could be our birth children, but our ethnic make-up... more

There was no outright adoption speak in today's installment of Sunday Secrets over at Post Secret. But there were two that really caught my eye with regard to the subjects I write about on this blog.

First off, we have this one.

Pregnant women remind me of my failures.

One should note,... more

I have been following this story for several days now, and each article that comes out gives more disgusting details.

One of the leaders of the Illinois Council on Adoptable Children is under investigation for child abuse against three girls in her home. The initial report stated that Patricia Cooper permitted her biological son to sexually assault the girls over an eight year period. The son, Christopher Cooper is now being held in jail without bond and is being charged... more

I've really enjoyed plunging myself into True Mom Confessions' (TMC) archives and finding adoption related posts by people like you and me. Quite honestly, it's been an eye-opening experience for me to look at the way different members of the triad view their own positions. In case you missed anything, here's a brief overview of the week long look at adoption confessions.

First and foremost, adoption is not a joke.... more