So which school of thought is right when it comes to sharing your child's story, or not sharing your child's story? It depends. As I said in my last post, as with so many other topics, there is just no one right answer.

I do think that any "right" answer has to have at the core, respect for the child's privacy and feelings. However, there are many ways to handle this while still respecting and protecting the child.

For us, “right” is somewhere in the middle.

I like to share our adoption stories, as it is my sincere hope and prayer that by sharing our stories, I can inspire others to adopt. I want to advocate for kids…older kids, waiting kids, minority kids and special... more

In “adoption land” there are quite a few “hot button topics” that people tend to feel very strongly about one way or another, and if you belong to any email groups or message boards, you know how heated conversations can get on topics such as circumcision, naming adopted children, etc.

One of these topics that I would like to tackle is how you choose to share your child’s story. There are those who are very guarded about their child’s background and history, refusing to share information with anyone, even close family, as to why their child was available for adoption, etc. until the child is old enough to choose whether to share that information or not.

On the opposite side... more

Over on the transracial adoption message board, I found a post about an interesting research project being done by a professor at George Mason University.

The name of the project is “Transnational Adoption and Changing Faces of American Families” and it is being conducted by Prof. Linda J. Seligmann in the Department of Sociology and Antropology.

The website describes the project like this…

This... more

I ended my last post by saying...

So you see what I mean when I say that there is no one “right” term to use for many situations, and coming up with universally acceptable phrases is unlikely. You can also see (or have experienced) how frustrating it can be for a well-intentioned individual, who feels like everything that they say is wrong to someone.

That is why I liked this article so much, which was featured in this week’s edition of Adoption.com’s... more

Adoption language can be a difficult topic. Much like racial terminology, “proper adoption language” changes rapidly, and it can be difficult and frustrating to stay up on what is currently being viewed as “right”.

And yet, personally, I think that there is a lot of “gray” in this issue, and some things are just never going to be agreed upon. Adoption is a personal and emotional issue, which complicates things.

For instance, let’s take the example of the children in my family. When we first started our adoptions five years ago, most people... more

In my last post, after discussing the importance of teaching a transracially adopted child about their culture, I asked, "So how do you do it?"

For us, we do most of the "text book answers"...we have story books, videos, outfits, toys, decorations and magazines from Vietnam, Korea, Ethiopia, etc. We talk about race and culture a lot, sometimes in serious conversations and sometimes casually.

Each of our kids know where they are from and where their brothers and sisters are from. We talk about and celebrate some of the cultural holidays. We talk a lot about African American history, and my 11 year-old daughter proudly made a book on Rosa Parks for her class last year. We enjoy... more

Who Am I? The Importance of Racial and Cultural Identity by Michele St. Martin is another one of the articles I found while playing around on the internet last night.

This is another great article on transracial adoption. This article discusses the importance of teaching a transracially adopted child about their culture, to interact with other people of your child’s race and to embrace the fact that once a Caucasian family adopts transracially, they become a minority family.

The article highlights several adoptive families and discusses their strategies in handling culture in their transracial families.... more

Sorry I was so quiet this weekend. I went away with my best friend (no kids!) and we went on a small road trip to a Speaking of Women’s Health conference. I have never been before and it was a wonderful experience.

It was a full day of speakers and classes, all aimed at women’s health issues. Everyone that attended got a huge bag that was just chock full of gifts, free samples, etc. and it was added to throughout the day. Included was everything from make up to vitamins to a gift card to Walmart.... more

Ok, so here is a topic that is in the news a lot right now, and it is definitely relevant, so I thought I would tackle it on here.

What do you all think about the new season of Survivor? You know the one. The one when the “castaways” are divided up into four tribes...and they are divided up by race?

This season of Survivor will start with four tribes…one Caucasian tribe, one Hispanic tribe, one African-American tribe and one Asian-American tribe. I had read quite a bit about it and last night I watched a “preview special” about the show, so it has been on my mind.

I do not like to be wishy-washy, but I am kind of torn on this one. On one hand, I can’t see a whole lot... more

Ok, here is another adoption-related article from yesterday’s news.

I have to admit that the title of this one made me cringe. “Foreign Adoption Often Means Unhealthy Children”.

The article is better than the title, but it is a bit scattered. I think that the term “unhealthy” is not necessarily an accurate one either. They quote that...

“Some 60 percent of the children adopted abroad have health problems, says Dr. Nancy Curtis, who heads Children's Hospital of Oakland's International Adoption Clinic. And 80 percent of their parents had no idea those problems existed... more