This is the third post in a series that examines the book, Two Little Girls: A Memoir of Adoption, by Theresa Reid

I’m always intrigued when people choose to adopt internationally mainly because they’re scared of interacting with their child’s birth parents. We have a domestic open adoption in which we consider our sons’ birth families members of our extended family (and vice versa).

In our case, there’s nothing to be scared of. The presence of our sons’ birth families... more

This is the second post in a series that examines the book, Two Little Girls: A Memoir of Adoption, by Theresa Reid

These days, when people say they want to adopt a healthy infant, they receive dirty looks from some in the adoption community. “Why not adopt one of the hundreds of thousands of children waiting in foster care?” people ask. “Why not adopt one of the millions or orphans from around the world?”

If you want to adopt a healthy infant, some insinuate that... more

When Mark Schultz wrote the song "Everything to Me," the story of a young mother choosing to place her newborn baby into the care of an adoptive family, he had more than just a pro-life sentiment in mind.

He had his life in mind. Because that young mother was his mom.

The song, which appears on Schultz's new album, Broken & Beautiful, has opened the door for the singer/songwriter... more

Working Mother magazine published its annual report on the 100 family-friendliest companies in the U.S. (October 2006 issue).

Here’s the breakdown on adoption and infertility benefits:

73 percent of Working Mother’s 100 Best Companies offer paid adoption leave, compared to 16 percent nationally.

91 percent of Working Mother’s 100 Best Companies offer adoption assistance, compared to 22 percent nationally.

72 percent of Working Mother’s 100 Best... more

Part 1 of 5

I enjoy reading adoption memoirs because they’re a nice break from the “how-to adopt” books that rehash the same material and the anthologies that contain heartwarming, yet sanitized glimpses into the lives of adoptive families.

Memoirs, too, often follow the same predictable formula: infertile-couple-wants-baby-journeys-to-X-country-brings-home-baby-lives-happily-ever-after. But once in a while, a memoir wows me. Theresa Reid’s Two... more

I’m going underground for the next few weeks so I won’t be blogging as regularly as usual. I have one chapter left to write in my book, “What’s So Great About Adoption,” and then I’ll make revisions.

My husband made me a nifty little chart so I can visually track how many words I’ve written and how many I have left to write (only 7,075 words to go!). It’s a good motivator for me. Since I’m used to writing 1,000-word magazine articles, writing a 65,000-word book is somewhat daunting. Watching... more

Today, as I was researching for the adoption book I’m writing, I came across the following statistics:

Thirty four states and the District of Columbia permit a minor mother to place her child for adoption without her own parents' permission or knowledge. In addition, 11 states make no distinction between minor and adult parents; in these states, the decision to relinquish her child for adoption rests with the young mother.

In practice, it is likely that some adoption agencies and judges (all adoptions, regardless... more

An Associated Press article noted that children whose mothers smoke during pregnancy are 2 ½ times more likely to have ADHD than children who aren’t prenatally exposed to tobacco. In other words, about one-third of attention deficit cases among U.S. children may be linked with smoking during pregnancy or to lead exposure afterward.

The study concurs with a 2000 study that said about 3 percent of all developmental and neurological disorders in U.S. children are caused by toxic chemicals and other environmental factors. Another 25 percent are due to... more

Part 5 in a 5-part series

Now that the school year is in swing, teachers will soon be assigning the “discovering your roots” activity (my eighth grade son brought his home last week).

In Jaiya John’s memoir, Black Baby White Hands, he recounts a fifth grade assignment in which his teacher laid out a large map of the world on the classroom floor and instructed the... more

Part 4 in a 5-part series

In Black Baby White Hands, Jaiya John describes the special relationship he and his sister, Kristin, had growing up (Jaiya was a black adopted child; Kristin was a white birth child). Jaiya and Kristin went through school in the same grade, but they only had one class together during their entire schooling. They saw each other during recess, at... more