In my last post I detailed the paperwork involved in an average international adoption process. In this post, I will detail what you have to accomplish once your child is home.

Once you get your child home it is easy to feel like the paperwork is done, but alas, it is merely time for round two!

When your child arrives home, the post placement period begins. Depending on your state, agency and the requirements of the country you adopted from, several... more

In my last post, I wrote about the paperwork that is involved in a typical domestic adoption. In this post I will outline the paperwork that is required for a typical international adoption. While some of the info and steps are the same, there is more involved in international adoptions.

It is important to note that in international adoptions many of the paperwork steps overlap each other in their time frames, and that the order of things can vary slightly.... more

There are quite a few topics under the letter “P” for my Transracial Adoption ABCs. I have already tackled “packing”, and now today I am going to write about “paperwork”.

Paperwork – There is a lot of paperwork involved in adoption. Domestic adoptions typically have less paperwork than international adoptions. Some countries require a lot more paperwork for international... more

The letter “P” is for packing today in my Transracial Adoption ABCs.

Packing – Almost all adoptions involve some amount of travel. There are some international programs that still allow parents to have their children escorted home instead of requiring parents to travel, but those seem to be getting fewer all the time. There are also some parents who adopt domestically and are lucky enough to be matched with a child very close to their home, but... more

The last topic I am going to address under the letter “O” in my Transracial Adoption ABCs is "orphan".

Orphan - For the sake of defining the word, if you are adopting internationally, you should know that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has a very specific definition of who qualifies as an orphan (and who does not), and only legal orphans will qualify for an immigration visa and be allowed to come into the United States.

From the USCIS... more

Let’s get back to our Transracial Adoption ABCs. If you are just tuning in to this blog, the Transracial Adoption ABCs are a series of posts that defines, discusses and provides information on common words, terms and issues involved in transracial adoption. You can find the whole series by clicking here.

Today I am still in the letter “O”, and I am going to talk about open adoption.

Open Adoption is when birth parents and adoptive parents share information... more

Now that I have written about older child adoption in my Transracial Adoption ABCs, I am going to write about older parent adoption.

Older Parent Adoption – First off, while words like “older” are relative terms and have different meanings for different people, I am going to use “older adoptive parent” to mean parents in their 40’s or older. I hope that doesn’t offend anyone! :)

Adoption by older parents is not as uncommon as you may think. In fact, when Josh and I started our first adoption at the... more

Today’s post is brought to you by the letter “O”, and I am going to write about adopting older children and about older parents adopting.

Older Children – These are the kind of numbers that are impossible to accurately calculate, but a large percentage of all adoptive parents want to adopt a baby, often a baby as young as possible.

At the same time, while there are millions of orphaned babies in the world, the overwhelming majority of orphaned children who are available for adoption are not babies. Many people instantly think of the challenges involved with adopting an older child when the topic of older child adoption arises, and it is true that adopting older... more

The other topic I have to discuss under the letter “N” in my Transracial Adoption ABCs is neglect.

Neglect can have a variety of legal definitions and parameters, and even differs from state to state in regards to what constitutes neglect of a child and what does not.

For the sake of keeping things simple, neglect most often means when a child’s basic needs are not met by his parents or caretakers. A child is neglected... more

Today I am up to the letter "N" in my Transracial Adoption ABC posts, and the first topic I am going to discuss is the ever-popular issue of naming your adopted children.

Naming – How to handle naming your adopted child is one of those hot topics that is often starting discussions and heated arguments on adoption email groups and forums. It is one of those topics that does not have a clear-cut right or wrong answer, as naming a child is a very personal decision. However since it is also... more