If you read a post of mine on any given day, you might believe that I am stuck, and angry. Read another day, and you will find that is not the case. Although I have angry moments, I use those to fuel my fires and give me the incentive to keep working to change some bad adoption practices, and faulty counseling for pregnant women.

Although adoption continues to tinge my life with sadness, I embrace life and lead a full and rich life. In my day to day life, I have made some peace with my adoption loss, and it no longer prevents me from a measure... more

If you adopted in or were adopted and born in or adopted in Massachusetts this may be of interest to you.

The Center for Family Connections is conducting a survey to research the impact of attempts to access original birth certificates in order to affect change in the law to gain access to birth certificates for all parents of adopted children under 18 years as well as adopted young adults and adults over 18 years of age.

The deadline for the survey is Sunday, March 18th and you can pass it on to any one who may be interested. The link is... more

The authors of Chicken Soup are putting together a new Chicken Soup Book called Chicken Soup for the Adopted Soul. They are seeking stories to be used in the book and you can submit your stories for consideration.

The editor of the book is LeAnn Thieman who is an adoptive mother. She lives in Colorado and has edited 8 of the Chicken Soup books thus far.

Once all the submissions are received, LeAnn collects them which is about 2000 stories per book, reads them all and selects the top 200 or so. These top 200 stories are then read... more

Several months ago, I received an advance copy of a fictional work written by adoptee, S.T. Underdahl. Ms. Underdahl is a neuropsychologist in private practice. Although the book is fiction, it is based loosely on the author's own personal reunion story and is described as suitable reading for young adults.

The Other Sister is about Josey Mueller, who comes up against challenges much like Ms. Underdahl's own sister did. At age 16, when Josey is typically trying to find her own identity and place in the world, her world is turned upside down. A sister appears... more

In case you are not aware of this resource, I decided to highlight it for you. Adoption.com’s emagazine publishes weekly and offers a vast amount of information. One particular feature that can help those who are searching is called, "Speak Out."

To Speak Out and share your opinion or a comment, or to respond to a message, e-mail editor@adoption.com.

Although this area was intended for opinions and comments, many searchers now... more

Part 1 ended up focusing more on what birth parents at reunion are not entitled to receive, rather than what they are. However, I think it is important to know both.

As for a relationship after being found, that is something that you cannot legislate. Although I encourage at least one meeting between the parties, you cannot force a relationship. If an adoptee or birth parent who is found refuses to form a relationship, you cannot force them to connect with each other. It is helpful to realize that a relationship is a privilege, and not a... more

There is a great deal of talk about how birth parents deserve their privacy and are entitled to refuse contact if they wish to do so. However, I find it interesting who normally makes those kinds of remarks. Birth parents rarely do. Generally, adoption social workers tend or those adoptive parents opposed to open records often voice their opinions on what birth parents want. Once in a while, a birth parent will agree that they are entitled to their privacy. However, most birth parents that I know believe saying that they need... more

Busily working on a writing project a while back, I was concentrating more on it than my blog. So many wonderful topics were in my head, and yet not have enough time to blog about them all. However, as I was researching, I came across several adoption reunion stories on Reunion.com.

The stories mention that on Reunion.com, there are several ways to search. One way that they allow you to search is by school; another is by name. This could be very useful for several reasons. I have run into a few... more

In this story, the birth mother was told that her child had died at birth. Instead, shortly after her birth in 1955, the child was sold in a gray market adoption for $250. Needless to say, the birth mother was stunned to find that the child she believed had died was alive and had been stolen from her.

She was 33 when her daughter was born and then evidently stolen and sold by the midwife and doctor. "I guess they wanted the money," she... more

If you are an adoptee and have decided that you don’t want contact with your natural family I want to give you a few things to ponder.

Under what circumstances would you want to be contacted? Would you want your natural family to contact you if there is important medical information you should know about? Would you want to be contacted if you have been named as a beneficiary in a natural relative will? Would you want to be contacted if there is a particular person you would like to hear from or have news from?

If you chose to not... more