tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60624099921133437162012-02-16T02:11:42.755-05:00Comments and observations on family-building CHOICES and CONSEQUENCES...FROM WHERE I SIT!Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13056062433173364818noreply@blogger.comBlogger141100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062409992113343716.post-43431822515808261432009-04-21T13:30:00.029-04:002009-04-22T12:09:21.948-04:00

Change is. Most of us accept this fact as inevitable and move forward. But when the change hits close to home, when it affects us personally, it grabs our attention. Why is this happening to me while I was making plans?Adoption has seen plenty of change in the past year. The United States finally implemented the Hague Treaty on International Adoption, and the rules of the game changed. The impact

Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13056062433173364818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062409992113343716.post-72521433874910326422009-04-19T11:40:00.001-04:002009-04-21T12:57:28.645-04:00

Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13056062433173364818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062409992113343716.post-36106641302800143442008-07-04T21:46:00.009-04:002008-07-04T22:05:35.452-04:00

On a hot afternoon earlier this week, I joined two friends at the movies to see THEN SHE FOUND ME, starring Helen Hunt, Bette Midler, Colin Firth and Matthew Broderick. The theater was cool and very, very private. In fact, we were the only ones there. Too bad, because the movie was definitely worth seeing.The story line turned out to be about adoption, search and reunion, infertility and a

Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13056062433173364818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062409992113343716.post-37907689587034099702008-06-12T17:34:00.009-04:002008-06-14T00:47:46.458-04:00

Two weeks ago I attended a national conference in Arlington, VA, on embryo adoption and donation. Most presenters argued for the “life begins at the moment of conception” position that assigns personhood to fertilized eggs in the embryonic state and the moral imperative to care and plan for them responsibly. Embryo donation and adoption was the thrust of the “care plan.” Acknowledging that the

Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13056062433173364818noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062409992113343716.post-28405839009752167352008-05-25T10:52:00.004-04:002008-05-25T11:24:47.391-04:00

American couples have a litany of reasons for adopting from abroad, ranging from the belief that they will be able to bring home a healthy, young infant to being able to set aside their fears of a birthparent knocking on their door to reclaim her child. In pursuit of their dream, they are willing to put up with enormous fees and expenses, monumental paperwork tasks akin to a thesis project, and

Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13056062433173364818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062409992113343716.post-37419230831302947742008-05-22T23:38:00.013-04:002008-05-23T11:33:05.489-04:00

Simple Gifts 'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,And when we find ourselves in the place just right,'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.When true simplicity is gain'd,To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,To turn, turn will be our delight'Till by turning, turning we come round right.I hope

Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13056062433173364818noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062409992113343716.post-67237260738820986292008-05-18T19:36:00.011-04:002008-05-19T08:57:46.064-04:00

International adoption is really taking a beating in the press. Allegations of corruption point to the role that foreign fees and foreign orphanage donations play in bringing children into the adoption process. Incentives paid to “baby finders” to meet the high demand from potential adopters amount to little more than child-trafficking. There are over 140,000,000 children worldwide in need

Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13056062433173364818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062409992113343716.post-11460076076365625182008-05-16T11:54:00.012-04:002008-05-16T14:55:25.562-04:00

While visiting my grandbabies in California last week, I met with a young couple who wanted to talk with me about adding to their family by adopting. They are young and energetic, successful, involved in their community---and already have two young children. They'd thought about adoption for years, he told me. With all the parentless children in the world, it seemed like a move whose time had

Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13056062433173364818noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062409992113343716.post-57632468151506382822008-05-15T01:34:00.009-04:002008-05-25T12:00:12.502-04:00

Nothing, actually. Especially if you're part of a new niche market---a baby planner.Martin Bashir’s report on ABC’s Nightline this evening was one of dark contrasts. On the one hand were reports of the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people in Myanmar in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. The death toll is estimated at 38,000. In the same week, China was hit by a three-minute-long,

Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13056062433173364818noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062409992113343716.post-51743685954389978342008-05-14T20:37:00.025-04:002008-05-26T22:51:59.103-04:00

As a family building choice, adoption changes everything, now and forever. Sometimes the change is obvious because the children wear adoption on their faces. These "visible families" often find themselves on the receiving end of intrusive---even outrageous---questions from perfect strangers; at least the topic is on the table from the start and they develop some coping strategies for

Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13056062433173364818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062409992113343716.post-10908004230714740652008-05-14T13:54:00.023-04:002008-05-14T21:56:32.284-04:00

TOP: Anna Johnson, Barb Tremitiere, Cindy Peck, Arlene Stabile, Filis Casey, MIDDLE: Nancy Fox, Dawn Degenhart, BOTTOM: Lynne Jacobs, Joan McNamara, Andrea Stawitcke, Sherry SmithI recently had a unique opportunity to spend sev­eral days with a group of women who, collective­ly, totaled more than 570 years of adoption experience. Cindy Peck, agency founder, member or various boards and

Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13056062433173364818noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062409992113343716.post-51728194958126067142008-05-12T14:43:00.017-04:002008-05-16T13:20:52.738-04:00

Customer service, tech support and face lifts...these days we outsource everything to India. So why not pregnancy?Reproductive outsourcing is a new but rapidly expanding enterprise in India. Clinics that provide surrogate mothers for foreigners say they have been inundated with requests from the United States and Europe in recent months, as word spreads of India's combination of skilled medical

Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13056062433173364818noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062409992113343716.post-56971387570913991152008-05-11T19:32:00.019-04:002008-05-14T14:13:30.105-04:00

Orphans prepare to leave on trains traveling west, late 1800sCycles in Family BuildingAdoption, like everything else, moves in cycles . In 1851, Massachusetts was the first state to pass a law regulating the adoption of children. Adoption required judicial approval, consent of the child’s parent or guardian, and a finding that the prospective adoptive family was of sufficient ability to raise the

Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13056062433173364818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062409992113343716.post-2217959956307879972008-05-11T15:00:00.003-04:002008-05-15T00:38:06.471-04:00

1981It's Mother's Day and I am thrilled to be on the receiving end of the calls, hugs and attention accorded to moms on the one day every year set aside for the occasion.According to a piece in today's Prairie Home Companion, a woman named Anna Jarvis was the person behind the official establishment of Mother's Day. Her mother, Anna Reeves Jarvis, had a similar idea, and in 1905 the daughter

Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13056062433173364818noreply@blogger.com0