One of my favorite sources of adoption information and adoption statistics has undergone an extreme makeover.

The National Adoption Information Clearinghouse (NAIC) and the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information have merged and are now known as the Child Welfare Information Gateway.

The newly-redesigned Web site still contains the same useful information as before, only now there’s even more fantastic info at your fingertips. Since the site is a government service, coming to you... more

Kathe Wunnenberg knows what it’s like to yearn for a child to continue the family legacy. She knows what it’s like to suffer in silence through years of infertility, infant loss, failed adoption, and miscarriage. She describes her devotional book, Longing for a Child, as a “companion of hope” for those who experience fertility challenges.

Similar to her first two books, Grieving the Loss of a Loved One and Grieving the... more

In Patricia Irwin Johnston’s book, Adopting After Infertility, the author discusses the mixed reactions people have when we inform them we’ve decided to adopt a child. She lists 14 common adoption myths:

Adoption is second best. Birth parents don’t live up to their real responsibilities, children don’t live in real families, and adoptive parents aren’t real parents.

Birth parents... more

Part 2 of 2

In the previous post, I overviewed the emotional state of infertile couples, as described in Patricia Irwin Johnston’s book, Adopting After Infertility.

Today, we’ll look at six ways others can support an infertile couple. Here’s a recap of Johnston’s tips:

Information. When a well-meaning friend makes a blooper, diplomatically point it out. Every... more

Part 1 of 2

I’m re-reading Patricia Irwin Johnston’s book, Adopting After Infertility. Early on in the book, she discusses how to deal with family and friends in regards to your fertility impairment.

Johnston points out that infertile people tend to be moody—every month, there’s that cycle of hope followed by despair. Events that other people celebrate, such as baby... more

Here’s a cool adoption story, sent to me by a fellow adoption journalist, Dan Gearino, who wrote the story for the Quad-City Times in Iowa.

The story is about 30-year-old Michelle Wetzell, adopted as an infant in a closed adoption. Last year, a blood test Wetzell took in order to purchase a life insurance policy showed an unusually high cholesterol level. So Wetzell decided to try to track down her birth mother to learn more about her medical history.

Turns out that Wetzell and her birth mother had worked at the same hair and nail salon 10 years ago, were friends,... more

In the previous post, I explained how Susie Krauter, a songwriter from the Seattle area, was inspired to compose a song on behalf of a family from her church who was waiting to adopt a son from China.

The lyrics to the song, “Love Found Me” are below. You can listen to the song at Susie’s Web site, Tru North Music.

Shelbe Knapke, who was 14 at the time the song was recorded, sang the vocals and the choir is comprised of former orphans (one of them, the boy who is the subject of the song)... more

Susie Krauter loves to write music. And when God puts a song on her heart, she listens and responds. Not long ago, a family from her church in the Seattle area, who had already adopted one child from China, learned about a 10-year-old boy, living in a Chinese orphanage, who had a cleft palate. They ached to adopt him.

When Susie heard her friends’ story, she says she “asked the Lord for a song for this family.” One day, as she was sitting at her son’s soccer practice, words for a song started to flow from Susie’s pen. She scribbled the words as quickly as possible and completed... more

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that it costs $237,000 to raise a child born in 2006. That doesn’t include the amount it costs to adopt, which generally ranges from $15,000 to $30,000, depending on the type of adoption you pursue.

Most adoptive parents aren’t wealthy. The latest U.S. Census shows that the median income of adoptive families with children under age 18 is $56,000 a year, compared to $48,000 for families who birth their children.

Many parents take advantage of workplace benefits... more

Sadly, adoption fraud is back in the news again. Unlike many crimes, adoption scams seem to be committed mostly by women. Here are two stories of fraud that have been hitting the papers this week:

The first scam involves an Indiana woman, Victoria Farahan. Farahan is a Russian native who promised six couples she’d help them adopt Russian children.

Farahan told the couples she worked with an international agency and gave them photos of children she said were Russian and available for adoption. One of the photos was of her own child. The adoptions were never completed, even though the couples paid Farahan nearly $100,000.

She pled guilty to mail and wire fraud and could... more