Today I have finally hit the dreaded letter "Z" in my Transracial Adoption ABCs. I have known it was coming since my very first post in this series, way back at the letter "A".

I have wondered what I would write about for the letter "Z", and how I could "close" this series, which has taken quite a bit of time and work. Many of you have made suggestions, which I have appreciated.

I considered making "Z" for "zoo", and talking about fun things to do with your family in the summer, and how important it is to spend fun time with your kids.

I thought about making "Z" for "zig zag" as someone suggested,... more

Letter "Y" is a post I have had in my mind and in my heart for quite some time. In my Transracial Adoption ABCs, the letter "Y" is for "yours".

When you adopt a child, that child is yours. Adoption is not long-term babysitting. It is not an act of charity or a good deed. It is a way to expand your family, and it legally creates a relationship of parents and child.

There is a lot of emphasis put on the importance of birth parents, birth families and birth countries and cultures. It is true that adopted children have other people and places that... more

OK, so a lot of you have sent me emails just dying to know what I was going to pull out of my hat for letters X, Y and Z in my Transracial Adoption ABCs. Let me say that doing all of these posts has not been as easy as I thought it would be. So forgive me, but for the letter "X" I am going to cheat just a wee bit. "X" is for "eXamine your life".

Choosing to become a transracial family is a big deal. It is not a decision to be made quickly or to be taken lightly. While... more

I am going to squeeze one more post out of the letter "W" in my Transracial Adoption ABCs.

Waiver - While this is not an adoption topic that will affect the majority of families that adopt internationally, it is an issue that is near and dear to my heart and is something that is affecting more and more adoptive parents all of the time.

The "waiver" is an extra step to the immigration process that is required for a child that is HIV+ (there is also a waiver required for children who test positive for TB). At most embassies, a medical is done as part of the immigration part of the international... more

In my last post I wrote about "the wait" for adoptive parents in the adoption process. In this post, the letter "W" in my Transracial Adoption ABCs is for waiting children.

Waiting Children - I have written before about the overwhelming number of orphaned children in the world. While the exact number can certainly be disputed, it doesn't seem to matter a whole bunch if there are 15 million or 20 million orphaned children. There are millions upon millions.

Knowing this, it would seem that no adoptive parent would... more

Wow! I am up to letter "W" in my Transracial Adoption ABCs. I am still open to brilliant suggestions for the letter "Z", which is just a few posts away now.

The letter "W" is for the wait (insert ominous music here).

The Wait - Waiting is hard. Waiting stinks. Waiting for something as huge and eventful as a new child is harder to wait for than most, and waiting for that child while knowing that that child is "out there" in the world is arguably one of the most difficult things possible to wait for.

Unfortunately,... more

My last post under the letter "V" in my Transracial Adoption ABCs is on the words voice and vulnerable.

The reality is that adoption involves many people who are in a vulnerable state. Orphaned children are some of the most vulnerable people anywhere. Pregnant mothers who are considering adoption for their child are highly vulnerable. Even adoptive parents, with all of the emotions that go into choosing to adopt and surviving the process, are vulnerable.

When you take all of that vulnerability, and throw in a whole lot of emotions and big chunks of money, it is easy to understand how easily the situations can be taken advantage of. As much as we like to think... more

I am getting down to the nitty-gritty of these Transracial Adoption ABCs posts. Today I am up to letter "V", and "V" is for visa.

Visa - No, I do not mean Visa the credit card (although arguably, that could certainly be an adoption term for many of us!). I am talking about the immigration visas required for internationally adopted children.

Immigration is complicated, and immigration for adopted children is no exception.

The process of obtaining a visa for your internationally adopted child is two-fold. The first part of the process is the I600A,... more

The letter "U" is for unpredictable in my Transracial Adoption ABCs.

Unpredictable - Some of the best adoption advice I have ever been given is to "expect the unexpected" and to be able to roll with the proverbial punches.

You often hear adoption being referred to as "an emotional roller coaster", and it definitely is. The emotional highs are really, really high (such as meeting your child for the first time), and the emotional lows are really, really low (such as losing a referral). One of the reasons that adoption often is such an emotional roller coaster is because it is a very unpredictable... more

My last post in my Transracial Adoption ABCs for the letter "T" is going to be on adoption travel. Travel is a huge part of almost any adoption, and it can be a wonderful and exciting part, and also a stressful and very challenging part of your adoption experience.

Travel - Unless you are doing a foster adoption or domestic infant adoption from a very local agency, it is very likely that your adoption will involve some travel. While there are still some international adoption... more