There was a question on one of the forums asking if you have to be religious to adopt. The simple answer is no.

When workers meet with and interview parents, they ask many questions about your family, your home, your marriage, and yes, about religion. The question is not to screen out parents who are not “religious” but instead to gather an idea about what your life is like, the things that are important to you, what the child can expect and what activities your child might be involved in.

For some children their faith is something that is very important... more

Some questions have come up regarding the last post and whether or not we should just let those who are unintentionally removing expectant mothers considering relinquishment from their children have a free pass or not. You know, because they aren't intentionally offending.

My answer is a resounding, loud, "NO!"

Ignorance is not an excuse. It's just not. It is especially not an excuse when you factor in the point that adoption agencies should be educating... more

When parents when learn their child has attachment disorder they have so many questions. Does RAD go away? Does it ever get better? Do children attach? Will my child ever be “normal?”

The honest answer is maybe. Some children heal, and others do not. Some children heal part way, others do not. Part of it is the child wanting to heal, part of it is the type of parenting (I’ll explain that more) and part of it is whether or not RAD is the only issue.

I have two children. My son, Sammy, is 15. My daughter, Hannah, is 7. Sammy has partially healed,... more

Hannah turns 7 today and she’s having a great day. Our family tradition is that you get breakfast in bed on your birthday (somehow I never get it on my birthday) and get to open your gifts while still in bed. What a way for a 7 year old to start the day.

Hannah is a far cry from the 4 year old child that I first met. She was an angry little girl who screamed at the top of her lungs for eight hours. She was as oppositional as a child could get. She would not let anyone hug her, she would not cuddle with her mom, she tried to choke her older brother... more

Over on the forums, I started a discussion about a new term being used by some adoptive parents for expectant mothers considering adoption. I supposed I should launch into a brief bit of adoption etymology before I continue on with the newest evolution of language.

Awhile ago, many adoptive parents were referring to expectant mothers considering adoption as birth mothers. This wasn't sitting well with a large number of us. The main reason being that you are... more

Nancy Thomas is a mother who adopted emotionally disturbed children. She was, and sometimes still is, a respite provider for emotionally disturbed children. She has written books about her work with children, and she has worked with thousands of parents to help their children heal from their emotional damage and be able to attach to their parents. All of this has brought criticism.

I was first introduced to Nancy Thomas when our attachment therapist gave me a copy of her book, “When Love is Not Enough” and I was mesmerized. While reading the book I felt... more

For the purposes of adoption, special needs has a much broader definition than normal.

In general, a special need means that a person has a medical disability or developmental delay. This does apply in adoption as well, but it is not limited to that.

Many of the children that qualify as special needs for the purposes of adoption have a mental health diagnosis, or in many cases, several diagnoses.

There are several other criteria that qualify a child as special needs for adoption that have nothing to do with disabilities or disorders.

Age... more

Ever since I found out that Tom Burnett, considered to be one of the heroes from the September 11th tragedies that struck the United States in 2001 was a birthfather, I find myself thinking of him and his birth daughter each and every September 11th. I am sure that there were other people lost on September 11th who had some sort of personal connection such as adoptees, birth parents or birth family members, and adoptive parents but those stories aren’t as well known as the one of Tom Burnett.

On September 11, 2001 Tom Burnett was flying home from... more

Over the weekend, I was at home alone for a bit. All was quiet and I was in a pretty mellow mood, just kind of working on some things but nothing too intent. I had the TV on for background noise as I so often do. This time it was tuned to CMT or Country Music Television if you are unfamiliar with the acronym. A video was on but I wasn’t really paying attention to the song but the chorus caught my ear and I stopped what I was doing for a moment to pay closer attention. Although the song Rocks... more

Do you like ice cream? Do you like kids? Would you like to make a dream come true for a child?

If you answered yes to all three of these questions, this information is for you. There is a fundraising event on September 25, 2008 that can fill all three of these.

Cold Stone Creamery is giving away free ice cream of two different flavors created by children who are on the list for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. They will also be selling stars with the proceeds to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. You can go and enjoy one of these custom flavors,... more