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

I have said time and time again on this blog that it is essential for prospective adoptive parents to do their research when it comes to choosing an adoption program and an adoption agency.

Today I am going to give some advice on how prospective adoptive parents can research their options, and can move... more

Today I was directed to an awesome essay on transracial adoption, written by an amazing eighth grader, who was adopted from Korea by a white family.

The essay can be found on the blog, the Transracial Korean Adoptee Nexus, and the direct link is here.

It is highly impressive that this essay was written by an eighth grade girl. It is well thought out, well researched, well expressed and well written. She also does a great job of being objective, and giving thought and credit to many different points of view. She did a better job on this than most adults would.

For transracial adoptive... more

Today I have finally hit the dreaded letter "Z" in my Transracial Adoption ABCs. I have known it was coming since my very first post in this series, way back at the letter "A".

I have wondered what I would write about for the letter "Z", and how I could "close" this series, which has taken quite a bit of time and work. Many of you have made suggestions, which I have appreciated.

I considered making "Z" for "zoo", and talking about fun things to do with your family in the summer, and how important it is to spend fun time with your kids.

I thought about making "Z" for "zig zag" as someone suggested,... more

Letter "Y" is a post I have had in my mind and in my heart for quite some time. In my Transracial Adoption ABCs, the letter "Y" is for "yours".

When you adopt a child, that child is yours. Adoption is not long-term babysitting. It is not an act of charity or a good deed. It is a way to expand your family, and it legally creates a relationship of parents and child.

There is a lot of emphasis put on the importance of birth parents, birth families and birth countries and cultures. It is true that adopted children have other people and places that... more

OK, so a lot of you have sent me emails just dying to know what I was going to pull out of my hat for letters X, Y and Z in my Transracial Adoption ABCs. Let me say that doing all of these posts has not been as easy as I thought it would be. So forgive me, but for the letter "X" I am going to cheat just a wee bit. "X" is for "eXamine your life".

Choosing to become a transracial family is a big deal. It is not a decision to be made quickly or to be taken lightly. While... more

I am going to squeeze one more post out of the letter "W" in my Transracial Adoption ABCs.

Waiver - While this is not an adoption topic that will affect the majority of families that adopt internationally, it is an issue that is near and dear to my heart and is something that is affecting more and more adoptive parents all of the time.

The "waiver" is an extra step to the immigration process that is required for a child that is HIV+ (there is also a waiver required for children who test positive for TB). At most embassies, a medical is done as part of the immigration part of the international... more

In my last post I wrote about "the wait" for adoptive parents in the adoption process. In this post, the letter "W" in my Transracial Adoption ABCs is for waiting children.

Waiting Children - I have written before about the overwhelming number of orphaned children in the world. While the exact number can certainly be disputed, it doesn't seem to matter a whole bunch if there are 15 million or 20 million orphaned children. There are millions upon millions.

Knowing this, it would seem that no adoptive parent would... more

Wow! I am up to letter "W" in my Transracial Adoption ABCs. I am still open to brilliant suggestions for the letter "Z", which is just a few posts away now.

The letter "W" is for the wait (insert ominous music here).

The Wait - Waiting is hard. Waiting stinks. Waiting for something as huge and eventful as a new child is harder to wait for than most, and waiting for that child while knowing that that child is "out there" in the world is arguably one of the most difficult things possible to wait for.

Unfortunately,... more