I was thinking about the new year and the future of adoption, both domestic and international, and I came up with this wish list of things I would love to see happen in adoption in 2008.

I wish that:

- The Hague will be implemented without causing significant delays to U.S. citizens and others adopting internationally. I believe the principles behind the Hague are good, and I sincerely hope that they can be made a reality without causing children to wait longer to be... more

While many of the lessons that Josh and I have learned through our transracial adoptions have been lessons in parenting and in life, some have been more personal. For me, one of the biggest lessons I have learned (and am still learning) is that I have very little control over the process (and that I do not enjoy not having any control over such an important thing).

Adoptive parents do have control over certain aspects of the process. The agency and program that you choose, how quickly you get your paperwork done, how timely you pay your adoption expenses, what... more

Yesterday, December 12, the United States of America signed on to and become a full member of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. The Hague will be put into affect as of April 1, 2008, and the U.S. will have to follow the Hague's guidelines and procedures with adoptions between the U.S. and other countries that are Hague members.

Those who are against the Hague worry that it will cause significant delays to international adoptions, which already often take a significant period of time. Some worry... more

Back at the beginning of National Adoption Month, I started thinking about and writing about what adoption is to me.

So far I have said that adoption is a business, expensive, hope, life changing, love, complicated,... more

(Please remember that this is just a piece of my definition of adoption. For my full definition of what adoption is, you can read this whole series of posts here.)

This is my last piece of my definition of what adoption is to me.

Adoption is family.

When I look at my family, I know that it would not exist as it does without adoption. Josh and I would be missing out on so much if it were not for adoption, and most of our children would be living very different lives if it was not for... more

(Please remember that this is just a piece of my definition of adoption. For my full definition of what adoption is, you can read this whole series of posts here.)

With National Adoption month wrapping up tomorrow, the last day of November, I am also wrapping up my definition of adoption. I have this post and then one more to complete my definition of adoption, and then tomorrow I will share some of my favorite definitions of adoption by readers who left comments for the giveaway, and I will also announce the winner.

For this post, I am going to say that adoption is beautiful.

One of the things that... more

(Please remember that this is just a piece of my definition of adoption. For my full definition of what adoption is, you can read this whole series of posts here.)

Adoption is hard. To illustrate my point, here is a letter I wrote to myself last week during an extra-hard day of waiting (and waiting).

Dear Erin,

This is a letter to remind yourself later on down the road (when you will need reminding), that you do not enjoy being in the process of adopting (even though an overwhelming amount of evidence would show otherwise).

You do not enjoy the sick feeling in your stomach that you get early... more

Faith over on the Adoptive Parenting Blog wrote an interesting post today on a topic that is rarely talked about in adoption circles. Her post is titled "Raising a Less Physically Attractive Adopted Child".

In a nutshell, Faith points out that not all children are "magazine cover" beautiful, and yet at the same time, all children are truly beautiful. However, in the shallow world in which we live in, many people value physical beauty as a highly important... more

(Please remember that this is just a piece of my definition of adoption. For my full definition of what adoption is, you can read this whole series of posts here.)

Adoption is necessary.

While adoption is not perfect and is indeed complicated, it is also necessary. I say that it is necessary because I know how very many children there are in this world who do not have anyone to call Mom or Dad. I have seen a teeny tiny percentage of those children and they have forever touched my heart.

I have stood in an orphanage in Vietnam, and looked at babies with their names written on their legs in black... more

(Please remember that this is just a piece of my definition of adoption. For my full definition of what adoption is, you can read this whole series of posts here.)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Today for my definition of adoption, I am going to say that to me, adoption is something to be thankful for.

I am thankful that adoption was an adoption for Josh and I as parents, and allowed us to expand our family after having biological children was no longer an option.

I am thankful beyond words... more