One of the ways I continue to try and give back to Ethiopia, the country I have adopted two children from, is volunteering as the AHOPE Supplies Coordinator. AHOPE stands for African HIV Orphans: Project Embrace, and it is an orphanage for AIDS orphans in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The AIDS orphans at AHOPE have not only lost their families to HIV/AIDS, but they are now living with this terrible virus themselves.

AHOPE provides a loving environment for these children, as well as life-saving anti-retro viral medications... more

If you pay attention to any of the online forums, blogs or email groups that have to do with transracial adoption, it will not take you long to find parents talking about hair and skin care for black children. Unlike black parents who have had a lifetime to learn how to care for their own hair, parents who have black children through transracial adoption often find there is a steep learning curve to caring for their children's beautiful hair.

Taking care... more

In my Transracial Adoption ABCs, the letter "T" is also for time.

Time - While "time" may not seem like an adoption word at first, there are many aspects of adoption that involve time.

Finding the right time to start your adoption can be tricky. Some parents want to wait until their homegrown children are older before they adopt. Some parents want their children to be close in age. Some programs require a certain age spacing between children. Some programs... more

Continuing on in the letter "T" in my Transracial Adoption ABCs, today I am going to write about teenagers.

Teenagers - Teenagers are an age group that is often overlooked in the adoption world. It seems just about everyone wants a baby. Toddlers are often fairly easy to place as well. Our son, at the ripe old age of five, was considered to be an "older child" with the agency we used to adopt him from Ethiopia.

Teenagers are often challenging to parent, even when they are your biological children and have spent their entire... more

I figured I would take a break from some of the "heavy" topics I have been hitting lately and go back to my Transracial Adoption ABCs for a short while. I am up to the letter "T".

Tax Credit - Before you read any further, please understand that taxes are complicated, and I am no where near an expert on this. I don't even do my own taxes (my Dad's accountant does). So take this information as basic and as a starting point, and do your research, and when... 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

I support transracial adoption.

I have stood in an orphanage in Vietnam and looked at babies four to a crib, lying there quietly, no longer bothering to cry when they needed something, with their names written in magic marker on their legs so they can be identified.

I have been in orphanages in Africa and held motherless babies, who beg you with their eyes not to put them down. I have had toddlers hanging off of every limb of my body, desperate for some personal attention and love, calling me "Mama" hopefully. I have talked with... 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