Jewish Adoption Links List - a work in progress.

AGENCIES/ GROUPS:

Jewish Adoption FAQs - a good place to start - a page at the JCCA website.

Ametz Adoption - a program of the JCCA in New York. Although they do not provide adoption placement, they do homestudies, post-adoption services and other support. They do seem to provide some type of referral service to adoption attorneys if you're interested in going that route.

Adoption... more

I was just reading Rebecca's post over at the Viet Nam Adoption Blog, talking about scrapbooking for the adoptive family. Those of us who are foster families are familiar with the term "Life Book" or those who have adopted older children may be familiar with the term as well. A Life Book is essentially a scrapbook, photo album, journal or a combination that chronicles your child's journey through different homes and places, and gives him or her some sense of history and normalcy. I have worked on a Life Book for each of the children we have fostered, and I saved Anna's book from her foster family as... more

After looking at this topic from a few different angles, the question at the bottom line is how much of an issue is religion for you as adoptive parents going through the process and for the potential birth family as they make their choices as well. I do know some Jewish families who decide that they only feel comfortable adopting a Jewish child or infant, even knowing that the wait for a child will almost certainly be longer.

Equally, on the other hand, potential birth mothers (or parents) often express their preferences with regards to the type of family that will become their child's parents. Through an agency or an attorney, they may even select or interview potential adoptive... more

This came across my desk recently. If you're going to be in the New York area, this looks like a good event I'm planning to attend.

THE MERGING IDENTITIES OF THE ADOPTED CHILD: Living as a Multicultural Jewish Family

Co-sponsored with Families with Children from China, Latin American Parents Association, Families of Russian and Ukrainian Adoption and the Ametz Adoption Program/JCCA.

International adoptions have literally changed the face of the Jewish community in recent years. A panel of parents, adoption professionals and other experts will discuss the challenges and rewards of blending our Jewish heritage with that of... more

Recently, there has been some good discussion on one of the message boards here regarding the discussion of religion when talking to potential birth families. Some of the people that had posted on the message board said that they had not or had not yet discussed the fact that they were Jewish with the potential birth mother. Searching for a baby available for adoption, or searching for a potential birth mother to work with is... more

So, as we push forward into the post-Passover period where I attempt to get my house back in order, I plan on focusing more time on certain things in my life, like this blog (okay - maybe I missed New Years' resolution time!). I have some good topics cooking in my head, and hope to continue to address things that are on your radar screen as well. Recently, the editor of the blogs here at Adoption.com sent me a list with keywords that people had typed in to a search engine and, in doing so, had made their way to this blog. For your interest, I thought I'd share them here.... with my comments or explanations... more

I got an email a few weeks ago from Jewish Lights Publishing on a new book they just put out. Jewish Lights is a company that puts out books of Jewish content targeted for people of any background - Jewish or not, observant, religious or unaffiliated. The new book is called What Makes Someone a Jew?, and is geared for ages 3 to 6 years old. The book, by Lauren Seidman, looks at the different things that make us all one people, and how alike and different we are at the same time. The pictures are great - very multiracial. It makes a great starting point to talk to kids who are adopted about their background, and how they are part of the... more

There was a recent article published in The New York Times on dealing with being adopted, Chinese and becoming a Bat Mitzvah. The article is interesting - certainly worth reading, although please be forewarned that the description of the Bat Mitzvah is not necessarily representative of Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebrations in general. The article does bring up very good issues to discuss and to think about - ideas of heritage, history and identity - things that interracial Jewish adoptive families deal with on a daily basis.

Fu Qian, renamed Cecelia Nealon-Shapiro at 3 months, was one of the first Chinese... more

Adopting a baby or child is an exciting and often overwhelming time in any family, any culture or religion. We are blessed to be in such a great supportive community - the week that Anna came to us (almost three years ago!) members of the community cooked meals for us, and provided us with food for that Shabbat.

And then the questions came. When are you going to convert her? Are you keeping her name? And even - Where are you sending her to school (Anna was all of 15ish months at the time) I guess people around us who had seen their friends or relatives go through the adoption process were used to the domestic adoption process where the waiting period finalization is finite, or the... more

In the first part of this look at conversion, I started talking about an individual who was raised Jewish, but either born to a Jewish father and not a Jewish mother, or was adopted and raised Jewish, but not converted to Judaism officially. (The following scenario may even be valid if the individual undergoes a Reform or Reconstructionist conversion.) Say he grows up, becomes more involved in his religion and becomes more traditional in college. He meets a nice Jewish girl and they decide to get married. Problem is, they want to be married by a Conservative rabbi who won't officiate because according... more