Continued from previous post...

Fly Away Home- Emily works with HIV+ woman and children, and is also an adoptive mom of two darling little boys from Ethiopia. She has been writing educational posts about HIV on her blog and they are amazing. Even if you are not considering ever adopting a child with HIV, this is worth reading. Even I , who consider myself to be highly educated on the matter as the mother of an HIV+ child, learned a lot. Thanks Em, for taking the time to educate those around you.

Adopt Blogger- If you haven’t read this blog, it is a good one to bookmark. Martha, creator of Rainbowkids.com (as well as an adult adoptee and adoptive mother) has a great blog that tackles a variety of issues related to all different types of adoption.

Jenna is another Adoption.com blogger I really enjoy…she writes the Birth/First Parents blog. I think it is important for all adoptive parents to “see things” from a birth parent’s point of view and to try and understand what it may feel like. Jenna has a very open minded point of view, and has an open relationship with her daughter’s adoptive parents. I enjoy her blog because we aren’t able to have open adoptions with any of our kids for a variety of reasons. I think she is great. :)

Harlow’s Monkey- This is an interesting read… an adult adoptee (from Korea), who is now a social worker working with foster children. This blog came to my attention thanks to this post by Sandra, the International Adoption blogger.

The blogger has some great info and insight and advocates for ethical adoptions which is awesome, however I certainly can’t say I agree with all she has to say or the way she says it.

For one, the name of the blog, “Harlow’s Monkey”, comes from an experiment in the 1950’s, when baby monkeys were taken from their mothers and were given a stick and terry cloth replacement, while the effects were observed.

The author of the Harlow’s Monkey blog sees and likens transracial adoption as a social experiment similar to Harlow’s Monkeys. Personally, I do not see transracial adoption as a “social experiment”. I see it as a less than perfect, but best possible solution for a handful of the millions of children who do not have the love and security of a home and family.

I also would like to say that I have to think that I am SIGNIFCANTLY different and infinitely better than a stick and piece of terry cloth as a “replacement mother”. There is a huge difference in removing a monkey (or child) from a loving and nurturing mother and then placing them with an OBJECT, versus placing them with a different, but equally loving and nurturing mother.

I may not be the mother some of my children were born to and I would never underestimate the losses that they have experienced and will continue to experience in their lives (as those of you who read here regularly know), HOWEVER, I know that all of our adoptions were ethical, I know that all of our children truly did not have parents that were able to care for them and I know that being part of a family through adoption was the best possible option for them. I know that transracial adoption is not without its complications and challenges and I fully admit that in a perfect world there would be no need for adoption, but I believe with all my heart that transracial adoption is a better choice than a child growing up without a home or family.

My children are not part of an experiment. They are part of a loving family. (stepping off of soap box...)

Give it a read...there is good stuff too. Despite my strong dislike of the name of the blog and all that it implies, there is good stuff there too. Let me know what you think.

Ok, that is all I have for now. If you have a post or blog to recommend, leave a comment, and if you check out any of these above and have something to say, leave a comment! :)