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

Apparently, there are several books out there that explain why we are who we are based on what number sibling we are in our family. Perhaps I should read one or two. But how much is really controlled by our place in the pecking order? And how much would we change if our place was somehow changed?

Personally, I think that the answer really depends on the individual. For some people, their place among their siblings may not have had a large influence on who they became as a person. Perhaps if they were moved from second oldest to youngest among the children, their personalities would have remained very much the same. For me, I know that I am the typical type 'A' personality of the oldest... more

As an adult now, looking back on my years as a kid, I don't remember when I first walked, first read a book or first crossed the street by myself. But I do remember when I first asked about certain things. I remember when I first talked to my mom about sex (and I can clearly remember being disgusted by the answer). I remember when I talked to my father about aliens. I can remember talking to my grandfather about death, and I can remember him dying.

As a parent now, I somehow follow the crowd of other parents, focusing in on when my kid cuts a new tooth. I take photos of my little one taking those first few precious steps, and I know their weight and height and percentile in their... more

How important is it that we know our family history? How important is it to know where we come from, biologically speaking? How crucial is it to know if your paternal grandfather had diabetes, or if your aunt has high blood pressure? How much of an influence do our genes have on us?

I came across a quiz on the internet that can give you an approximate life expectancy based on your answers to certain questions about your lifestyle and family history. The link can be found here. I was surprised to find that an answer of "Adopted/ Don't know" was given as an option to some questions with regard to family medical history - and I was pleased to... more

Most people with kids have some sort of a bedtime routine for them - or at least try to. It helps the kid with understanding the schedule and accepting that it is, indeed, time to go to sleep - and there is not much they can do to avoid it. While we are still working on convincing our children that they actually are supposed to be sleeping at night, we have at least established some sort of routine. After getting into pajamas, Anna gets either ten more minutes to play or one or two stories, depending on how late it is. When I lie down with her in bed,... 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

I talked the other day about why one needs to carefully consider what information to talk about with a potential birth family - including religion. It's important to keep in mind that with any kind of open adoption situation, the information is bound to come out sooner or later, and one needs to think about what would be better discussed sooner. Today, I wanted to bring up the emotional angle as an adoptive parent.

To get to where we are, many of us have struggled with infertility, possibly years of treatment only to go through the emotional decision to stop and pursue other... 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