The day of your child’s adoption is no doubt a very special day for you. For your child it is probably a day of mixed emotions.

A child’s adoption brings some type of joy for your child in that there is finality and some sense of certainty about their future, there is also loss involved. Your child may feel as if they are losing their birth family, and truth be told, they are. In cases of open adoption or sibling contact your child may not feel the loss as strongly as a completely closed adoption, but there is still loss. Your child may be grieving some loss while... more

Last week I started talking with a woman who is interested in adoption. She and her husband are just getting started in the process and evaluating what type of adoption they are interested in perusing. We discussed the pros and cons of each type of adoption along with the age of child they are interested in and so on. All the things you’d expect when first starting adoption.

This couple is leaning toward foster care adoption. One of the things I strongly believe in is honesty about adoption. I firmly believe in adoption as a way to build a family but I also believe... more

Sucking the air outI would like to address a comment made on a blog that I wrote on July 2, 2008 entitled “Place Older Adopted Children With Stay at Home Parent.” In that blog, I stated that older adopted children typically come to their new family with abandonment issues. I realize there are many other issues involved, but I am addressing just abandonment for now. In the summary of the article I stated, “Try to find a way to spend those first... more

The actress, Edie Falco, who is most closely associated with her role as Carmella Soprano on The Sopranos, recently adopted a daughter, Macy, according to unconfirmed reports posted at several online venues. This is the second child, and second adoption for Ms. Falco, aged 44. Macy joins big brother, Anderson, who is currently 3 year old. Anderson was adopted in 2005, and was named after the mother of the actress, whose maiden name was Anderson.

Falco joins other recent celebrity adoptive parents, including:

Julie Haddon (The Biggest Loser, Season... more

For some time now, I’ve observed that right around the time my oldest goes through a growth spurt, we start to see really wonky behavior: crankiness, sleeping more, eating like there’s no tomorrow, and the like.

Though I saw, and still see, this with him, being that he was our only child, it didn’t occur to me to look for this same tie-in with our newest arrivals. But, boy, something is definitely in the air! My youngest has shown signs of regressing to certain behaviors we’ve not seen since shortly after his arrival here. He’s throwing mild tantrums, and being whiny, clingy and verbally very cranky.

My daughter, who lost another tooth today, has also displayed some undesirable... more

After I got a Social Security number for my son, the last piece of paperwork I needed was a birth certificate for my adopted child. While obtaining this document was technically not a rush, I was eager to put the adoption paperwork behind me. By the time my son was five months old, I had an adoption decree declaring him as my legal son, and I had a Social Security number. I was ready to end the adoption paperwork chapter of my life.

Unfortunately, my state is known for being particularly slow in issuing birth certificates for adopted children. The social... more

After I adopted my son, the two pieces of paper that stood in my way of being finished with the adoption-related paperwork were the birth certificate and the Social Security number. I did not really need the birth certificate right away because my son was years away from entering school or playing on a soccer team, but I really wanted that Social Security number. My husband and I wanted to set up an Education IRA for my son, and we needed a Social Security number to do this. While there are ways to work around this, they were cumbersome as well. I just wanted to obtain... more

While we are celebrating with parties today (or recovering from parties, as the case may be), let's focus on a fun part of adoptive parenting – the finalization party! After all of the hard work you did to become your child's parents, your family deserves to kick off your legal status as a family by having a party.

In my state, you do not go to court for the finalization if the adoption is uncontested. So, the paperwork just arrived in the mail one day with no pomp and circumstance. While that piece of paper was extremely important to me, there was nobody to celebrate it with.... more

I went on a job interview today. The last time I went on an official interview, I had one toddler. It’s been fifteen years, fifty+ more children passing through our family, and a lifetime of living since that interview. When I asked my kids what I should wear today, I knew I’d reached a different time of life. With the interview now over, I think it went very well. Whether or not I end up getting the job, my passion for the subject of this employment remains. The job is to train prospective foster and adoptive parents.

I remember back... more

Today was an adoption day in our family!

It’s been a long time coming. Still, I was surprised when it all seemed to go off without a hitch. No stop-ups! Not any major ones at least.

We left a little before 6am this morning. All showered, cleaned, hair fixed up, breakfasted. (This is a feat for my kids. It’s monumental for the mom!! I’m NOT a morning person!) Three vehicles packed full of children - all the way through one city in rush hour morning traffic - to the next city 2hrs away that was then... more