Adoption Awareness

Great news for waiting children in Oregon just in time for National Adoption Month! The Adoption.com Photolisting is excited to announce that the State of Oregon is now featuring it's waiting children right here on Adoption.com. Now, the children in Oregon can be viewed by potential families from anywhere in the United States at any time of the day or night. Families who are homestudy ready and certified to adopt in their state can submit inquiries via the Adoption.com Photolisting Inquiry Form. Those not currently homestudy ready can submit a Homestudy Assistance Form and get matched with a caseworker in their area who can help them get started on the journey to adopting from the U.S. foster care system. National Adoption

So you've read about National Adoption Month some place or you've seen a child featured on a local broadcast that talks about children in need of homes in the US Foster Care system and you're wanting to learn more. Depending on where you are in the education process, you may or may not know what the next steps are. Let's assume, for a minute, you're brand new and you're looking for guidance or advice on what the first steps are when deciding to move forward, that's easy enough, right? First, you'll want to find out how your state agency for children's issues is operated. Are you in a privatized state? Are all matters related to foster care or adopting from foster care handled through… [more]

Top Ten Intrusive Question Number Ten: Can't you have your "own" children? I have never, in my entire life, felt that it was appropriate to ask a complete stranger about their reproductive status. What goes on, or for that matter, doesn't go on in my uterus is my business. Is that not completely apparent? The thing I find most ridiculous about this question is the obvious lack of prior planning when asking this question. I'm assuming it is common knowledge that if a woman is having reproductive issues that she will be at least a little bit upset by the situation. It seems to me that if I were quite interested in having a baby and we tried and tried but it wasn't working, that it… [more]

Yesterday Hannah and my respite kid, J, were playing and Hannah came to tell me what they were playing. It was quite interesting. She said they were taking care of baby foxes and wolves. Whenever someone didn’t want the foxes and wolves anymore, they would take them and adopt them and then take care of them. I love that she feels adoption is natural and completely acceptable way to build a family, even if her family was little animals. We have not really had any discussions about how she feels about adoption, but I think I have an answer. I don’t care for the statement that she would take the babies when they weren’t wanted anymore. Maybe I’m making too much… [more]

This afternoon I was taking a break after mowing the several acres that is our yard. I was flipping through channels and landed on a show on Discovery Health Network called “Adoption Stories.” Obviously this caught my attention. This is the first episode I have seen, so my opinions are based on this episode alone. The episode focused on one family. This is the description listed on the Discovery Health Network website. The Wengrenowitz's are passionate advocates for the adoption of special needs children. They plan to adopt 2-year old Faith who has been in foster care with them since she was an infant. Before foster care, she was drug-exposed, abused and neglected. I did not see the passionate advocate part at all… [more]

There is an opportunity for you to share your adoption story with other adoptive families and have your story read around the world. “A Cup of Comfort,” a series of books similar to “Chicken Soup for the Soul” is publishing two new books that all of our stories are a perfect fit for. The first book is “A Cup of Comfort for Adoptive Parents” and the other is “A Cup of Comfort for Parents of Children with Special Needs.” I’m sure we can all write stories that will fit the format of what they are looking for. Here is the submission request for the Adoptive Families book: The primary purpose of this book is to celebrate adoptive families and to recognize the extraordinary and challenging… [more]

It’s the final day of National Adoption Awareness Month. I hope you have enjoyed my blogs on this topic and took part in some of the ideas for adoption awareness. It was fun to write about them. For a final event to celebrate the month, have a family picture taken. You can choose to have a formal portrait done, or have some fun. Most people are getting ready to send out their holiday cards soon. Some people are really on the ball and already have them out. I’m lucky to get them out before the end of the year. You can include one of these pictures in your holiday cards. You know your friends and family would love to see… [more]

Two years ago the International Foster Care Organization (IFCO) held its conference in Madison, WI. Nancy and I attended the conference and we exhibited there as well. It was great to be able to hear some of the speakers, and to talk with other foster parents from around the world. Did you know the United States is the only country that says foster PARENTS? All the other countries say you are a foster CARER. I’m not sure which one is better, but it sure is interesting. One of the most amazing exhibits was one that I was proud to be a part of. The Wisconsin Foster Parent and Adoptive Parents Association, Inc. (WFAPA), who also co-sponsored the… [more]

The Catholic religion has a tradition of lighting candles for people in need and saying a prayer for them. Even though I was raised in the Catholic church, I never really understood the tradition, so I researched it. The candle is meant to serve as a “vigil” for the person they are praying for, much as a community holds a candle light vigil for a senseless tragedy in their community. There are thousands of children in foster care who could stand to have someone hold a vigil for them, but that’s pretty impractical. But, you can light a candle for the child. If you had one candle in your house for every child in foster care, the first candle would be out by the… [more]

Once you have placement of a child, you are going to need support. There are few adoptions that go through with no issues at all. There will be things that come up that you will want other parents’ input on or just a hug to say “been there, done that.” There are many support groups already in place. You can connect with one of them, or start your own. I prefer the on-line support groups, because they fit my schedule and I can “talk” to someone any time of the day or night. I know that these are other parents who are living the same life and dealing with the same issues I am. Going out in my local community and trying to… [more]