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

Everybody knows that there are aspects to parenting that are just "yucky" and unpleasant, but are also just part of the job, such as poopy diapers, middle of the night "throw-ups" and snotty noses.

Well, when you adopt a child internationally, there is often a whole new side of "yucky stuff" to deal with. This stuff is unpleasant and sometimes down right gross. Some of it can be a real pain in the rear to get rid of. But in the grand scheme of parenting, it is all pretty minor stuff, and stuff that you can get past with the right tools, especially... more

Health is often a big issue and a major concern when it comes to adoption, especially when a family is adopting a child internationally.

Depending on where you are adopting from, you may get a great deal of medical information on the child you are adopting, or you may get very limited and basic information. The information you get may be up to date and "on par" with U.S. standards, or it may be somewhat unreliable because of the conditions of where the care was given or the quality... more

As I have been writing about transracial adoption and the topic of how it is often portrayed as trendy or taboo, I have gotten a lot of great comments that I wanted to ensure did not get overlooked.

Here are some of the comments that I wanted to share, and my responses.

Rebecca, from the Vietnam Adoption Blog said:

I'd really like to know what all the people who think transracial adoption is morally wrong propose to do about all the children (abandoned,... more

In case you have not heard this yet, on Sunday in Alabama, a family that checked into an RV park was told that their two year-old son was not allowed to use the pool, showers or common areas of the park because he is HIV+.

Silvia and Dick Glover are foster parents to little Caleb, and are in the process of adopting him. Silvia mentioned in casual conversation with someone in the park office that the boy is HIV+, when they were discussing his adoption. Shortly thereafter, they were told he could not swim or use the showers or common areas of the... more

Over the past few days I have been writing about the ways in which the media and others in society tend to portray transracial adoption as either trendy or taboo.

For me, what it boils down to is that transracial adoption should not be trendy or taboo. It is, for adoptive parents, one way to build a family, and it is, for a tiny percentage of the millions of orphans in this world we live in, the best possible solution and the best chance for them to live a full and happy life, with their physical and emotional needs being met.

I... more

In my last post I wrote about how the media tends to portray transracial adoption as "trendy".

In this post I am going to look at the flip side, and how many portray transracial adoption as taboo.

Wikipedia defines Taboo as:

A taboo is a strong social prohibition (or ban) against words, objects, actions, discussions, or people that are considered undesirable or offensive by a group, culture, or society. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent. Some taboo activities or customs are prohibited under law... more

In my last post I posed a question to all of you. I asked if you think transracial adoption is trendy, taboo or neither? And along with that question, I asked why does the media feel the need to paint the picture of transracial adoption to be either trendy or taboo?

Today I am going to write about the "trendy side" of transracial adoption (as portrayed by the media).

Many articles related to transracial adoption present transracial adoption... more

It seems that in the media, transracial adoption (whether domestic or international) is often made out to be either trendy, the new "hip" thing to do, or, taboo, morally wrong in every way.

Many of us have seen the countless articles on international adoption that seem to be everywhere every time Angelina Jolie, Madonna or another big star adopts. These articles tend to have very little factual information in regards to adoption. Many of them "hint" that unethical practices are going on, without any facts or research. These articles also typically make it sound like to adopt a child, all you have to do is get yourself to a country and "shop" for a child.

There was lots of hype... more

We are up to the letter "R" in my Transracial Adoption ABCs series and today I am going to write about race.

Race - Race is a often a controversial topic. While when people use the word "race" as a way of grouping people by the color of their skin and their physical characteristics (and sometimes also by where they were born), most scientists agree that the idea of humans being broken into groups by race is merely a social construct, and... more