Today I wanted to let you know about a new organization that is working to promote policies and practices in immigration and legislature that will give children who are adopted into American families the same rights and opportunities as children who are born into American families.

EACH stands for Equality for Adopted Children, and they advocate for children by working with Congress, the White House and government agencies. The mission of EACH is to achieve equal treatment between adopted and biological children of American citizens under federal and state laws.

E – Every child is created equal,... more

I love holiday specials. I love Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, I love Frosty the Snowman, I love the Charlie Brown Christmas and bunches of others. A new tradition in holiday TV watching has become the "A Home for the Holidays Entertainment Special" that airs each year on CBS to celebrate adoption and advocate for children awaiting adoption in the United States foster care system.

This year will be the ninth annual broadcast of "A Home for the Holidays". It will be broadcast on December 21 on CBS. Starring in this year's show will be Sheryl Crow, James Blunt,... more

Someone just sent me a link to this adoption documentary titled, "Forget the Past". This documentary looks at international adoption of children in India by families in India, Denmark and the United States.

The film was produced and directed by Sarah Brandt Talreja, who was born in India, adopted internationally and transracially at a very young age, raised in Denmark and is currently living in Los Angeles. The film was created to show what life is like in orphanages in India to give prospective adoptive parents a better understanding of where their children are coming from. The film looks at the adoption process from both the child's... more

There are just 21 "shopping days" left until Christmas, and if you are still looking for some gift ideas for the more "difficult" people on your list, I have some suggestions!

I know that many transracial adoptive families feel the need and the pull to give back in some way to those less fortunate. Adoptive families are often very aware of issues like poverty, illness, famine and other tragedies that create orphans and are also usually very aware of just how many children there are waiting for a family of their own this (and every) holiday season.

I have been... more

Most of the time when we write about or talk about transracial adoption, we are talking about white adoptive parents with Asian, black, Hispanic, Indian, Native American or biracial children. The assumption that transracial adoption involves white parents and non-white children is a result of that fact that most transracial adoptions do involve white parents and non-white children, as most adoptive parents in the United States are in fact, white.

However, it is becoming increasingly more common (or maybe less uncommon) to see adoptive parents of different races adopting, and sometimes adoptive parents who are not white, adopting children who are white.

National Public Radio... more

First I want to say thank you to everyone who participated in my giveaway for National Adoption Month. There were such a wonderful array of responses given to my question of "what does adoption mean to you?"

The variety in the answers validates the point that I made, that your own personal experiences with adoption and the role that you have played or hope to play in an adoption will leave you with your own, very personal definition of what adoption is.

At... more

A recent broadcast on National Public Radio titled "Study: Adoption Not Harmful to Child's Self-Esteem" has been very reassuring to adoptive parents.

With there being so much information, advice and opinions out there that can lead adoptive parents, and especially transracial adoptive parents, to feel like their children are doomed to face significant emotional struggles because they were adopted transracially, this story and study bring some very good and hopeful news.

The broadcast is just under five minutes so please make sure you listen to it, but in a nutshell, a study was just released... more

The Christmas season is officially here and many people are in the midst of their holiday shopping. While I am guilty of buying in to some of the consumerism of the holiday season, I also try not to overspend, put a lot of thought into what I buy and try to, when I can, give gifts with meaning, and gifts that "give back" in some way.

Since becoming a transracial adoptive parent, I have become very convinced of the necessity for us all to look beyond our own lives and remember others who are less fortunate, especially around the holidays.

You can read all of my posts on this topic below.

My gift idea for today is Kiva. Kiva is a wonderful... more

To continue on with my holiday "gift ideas with meaning" theme, I want to tell you about a beautiful book that is now available, with the proceeds benefiting orphans in Ethiopia and families who choose to adopt them.

"Faces of Layla: A Journey Through Ethiopian Adoption" is a beautiful, large, hard-cover book that is full of stunning photographs of life in Addis Ababa and of Ethiopian orphaned children living at Adoption Advocates International's Layla House orphanage. The photographs are by photographer Emma Dodge Hanson, the foreward is by author Melissa Fay Greene... more

With Thanksgiving now less than two weeks away and Christmas not far behind, I need to continue on with my "gifts with meaning" posts. If you have missed these, I am making suggestions for holiday gifts to be given by adoptive parents (or given to adoptive parents!) that give back in some way to children in need. Links to the rest of these posts are at the bottom of this post.

Most of you know that I am the supplies and donations coordinator for AHOPE for Children and that our Belane and our Solomon are both from AHOPE.

There... more