I have been writing about our domestic adoption of two older girls and the challenges we have had in regards to the relationship we have with their birth mother. I am sharing this story because I am sure that we are not the only domestic adoptive family in a difficult situation, and I hope that maybe our story can be of encouragement, support and help to other families in challenging situations.

In my earlier posts I wrote about how we had high hopes for a positive open relationship with my girls' birth mother and then I wrote about the challenges and struggles that came when it became... more

In my last post, I started writing about the topic of when relationships between adoptive parents and birth parents are challenging.

As I said, my husband and I went into the adoption of our two older daughters with the hope that we would be able to create and maintain an ongoing open relationship with their birth mother. However, fairly shortly after placement it started to become clear that contact between the girls and their birth mother was not going to be in their best interest, because of lying, swearing, verbal abuse, manipulation and other issues. When the professionals involved... more

A lot of the things I write about on this blog are inspired from my own experiences with adopting transracially.

Lately we have been facing a difficult situation with the birth mother of two of our children, and I am sure that we are not the only family in a tough situation, so I thought I would write about it.

Many of us adoptive parents prepare for our domestic adoptions by doing lots of reading, research, etc.

If you read the blogs of birth/first mothers such as Jan, Jenna, Heather... more

One of the things that constantly nags at the back of my brain, is the worry of what happens to the children who never get adopted, and eventually age out of the foster care system, or get kicked out of their orphanage.

It is no secret that in many countries, once children reach the age of 14 or so and are considered "un-adoptable" and leave the orphanages, they are at a huge risk for sexual exploitation, child labor and other dangers. Young girls are at a high risk of becoming pregnant and creating more children that will not have parents who can care for them.

Kids leaving orphanages with little or no education, no family and no support have very few options open to them.

In... more

I have one more transracial adoption question from a reader to answer. If you have a question you would like answered or a topic related to transracial adoption that you would like to see answered, please leave a comment.

Today's question is:

What is the best way to integrate with a racial/cultural group that you have not had much interaction with in the past? (i.e. white parents adopting an African son)

Many different adoption experts and professionals reiterate that it is important for transracially adopted children to have people in their lives of their... more

In this post I asked readers to leave a comment with questions related to transracial adoption that they would like to see answered in future blog posts (please feel free to still go to that post and leave a question if you have one). I have already answered questions related to transracial adoption labels, hair... more

In my last post I asked you, my readers, what questions you would like to see written about here on the transracial adoption blog. I have already gotten a good little list, but would love to see it added to, so if you have a transracial adoption question, please go leave me a comment.

The first question I am going to answer is one that is a common concern of transracial adoptive parents.

My son will be from Rwanda...so would you call him Rwandan-American, African-American, or just American?

Racial labels are a tough issue for several reasons.... more

This week I have been writing about adoption medicine and common health issues in internationally adopted children. Today I am going to conclude this mini-series with some thoughts on adoption and health.

While many parents worry about the health of the child they may adopt, especially when it is an international adoption, it is important to know that most children come home to their new parents with only minor ailments, such as the things I have... more

In my last few posts I have been writing about recommended health screenings for newly internationally adopted children, and about the "yucky side" of adopting a new child internationally. I have given some general information on some of the most common creepy crawlies that new adoptive parents often have to deal with. As I have written, lice, scabies and ringworm are all fairly commonly found in newly arrived international... more

In my last post I started writing about some of the "icky stuff" that often comes along with international adoption. Lice, scabies, ringworm and Giardia and conditions that are common in internationally adopted children and can cause big headaches in parents.

Having a basic knowledge of these conditions and their treatments can help adoptive parents be prepared for the creepy crawlies.

Ringworm - Ringworm, despite it's name,... more