Exploring Adoption

Exploring Adoption Year In Review

This week, I’ve been highlighting some of the most popular posts from the past year. Today, I’ll recap a few of my personal favorites.

Most Innovative Adoption Collaboration Between Church & State:

Colorado’s Project 1.27

Coolest Blog Gizmos

Google’s Customizable Adoption Search Engine

Personalized Blog Widget

Favorite New Sites

Adoption Writers
I created this site, but it can still be my favorite, right? Launched July 22, Adoption Writers is a networking site for those who educate and advocate for adoption through the written word. Members include authors, journalists, and bloggers who are adoptive parents, birth parents, adoptees, and others who have a passion for adoption.

Parenting After Infertility - Help for Moms

Voices of Adoption
You’ll find many informational and educational articles from a variety of adoption experts on this site.

Adoption Blog Writers
This new blog showcases the thoughts and opinions of several adoption writers who aren’t afraid to let it all hang out.

HopeToAdopt.com: A User-Friendly Registry for Prospective Adoptive Families

My Favorite Response to the Zillions of Students Who Ask Me To Help Them With Their Reports, Speeches, Debates, Research Studies, and Even Doctoral Dissertations on Adoption-Related Topics:

No, I Will NOT Write Your Research Paper About Adoption

Also in this Year in Review series:

Adoption Statistics from 2007

Financing Adoption – Links to Articles

Celebrity Adoption Gossip

Adopting Children With Down Syndrome

Exploring Adoption Issues

For more news and information about adoption, visit www.laurachristianson.com, and check out my Exploring Adoption bookstore.

Exploring Adoption Issues

People often ask me, “Do you ever run out of adoption-related topics to write about?”

No! I find adoption an endlessly fascinating subject; file folders bulge with information, interviews, and ideas I plan to address in upcoming posts. Since adoption is relationally-based and presents unique twists for each individual who experiences it, interesting material abounds.

Here are some of the issues I’ve tackled this year:

Pre-Adoptive Parent Issues

How to Choose an Adoption Agency

How to Answer Tricky Questions on Your Adoption Application

Am I Too Old to Adopt?

Why Is It So Difficult for Singles to Adopt?

Adoptive Parenting Issues

Post-Traumatic Stress in Adopted Children - New Therapeutic Program

Adopting “Problem” Children

Post-Adoption Depression: What Causes It; How to Get Help

Birth Parent & Grandparent Issues

Birth Mother/First Mother/Life Mother -- What's Your Preference?
(Lots of interesting discussion on this post)

The Stages of Birthparent Grief

Birth Grandparent Grief Following Adoption

Five Tips for Exchanging Gifts Among Birth and Adoptive Families

General Adoption Issues

Why Most Children Adopted from China are Girls

Annoying Questions About Adoption - Chicago Tribune columnist Kelly Haramis asked readers to submit the craziest questions and comments people make about adopted children

NPR’s Adoption in America Series – Great print/video series that covers several important adoption issues.

Infertility Issues

Viagra Use and Infertility Linked

Infertility Etiquette

Also in this Year in Review series:

Adoption Statistics from 2007

Financing Adoption – Links to Articles

Celebrity Adoption Gossip

Adopting Children With Down Syndrome

For more news and information about adoption, visit www.laurachristianson.com, and check out my Exploring Adoption bookstore.

Adopting Children With Down Syndrome

This week, we’re taking a look back at the hottest adoption-related topics of 2007. So far, we’ve reviewed adoption statistics, adoption financing, and celebrity adoptions.

Adopting children who have Down syndrome is rapidly gaining popularity; I receive regular inquiries about the topic and my posts on Down syndrome adoption get hundreds of hits every week. Here are some great resources for exploring Down syndrome adoption:

Adopting a Child with Down Syndrome: Visit Reece’s Rainbow

Down Syndrome Adoption Q & A

Resources About Down Syndrome

For more news and information about adoption, visit www.laurachristianson.com, and check out my Exploring Adoption bookstore.

Celebrity Adoption Gossip

Celebrities who adopt are always a hot topic on the Exploring Adoption blog. This year, the media inundated us with stories about Mary-Louise Parker adopting from Africa,  Cheryl Crow adopting domestically, and, of course, Angelina Jolie’s latest adoption, this time from Vietnam.

Also in this Year in Review series:

Adoption Statistics from 2007

Financing Adoption – Links to Articles

For more news and information about adoption, visit www.laurachristianson.com, and check out my Exploring Adoption bookstore.

Financing Adoption – Links to Articles

Why is adoption so expensive, and how do I pay for it?

Those are the questions I’m asked most frequently. Not long ago, I wrote a three-part series on this topic for John Nardini’s Free Money Finance blog. (By the way, The New York Times recently featured Free Money Finance in an article about business blogging)

Here are links to more articles about adoption financing:

Can I Adopt If I'm on a Limited Income?

Links to Series on Adoption Financing and Adoption Tax Credit

USCIS To Increase International Adoption Fees

Adoption Tax Credit for Ohio Residents Triples

Also in this series:

Adoption Statistics from 2007

For more news and information about adoption, visit www.laurachristianson.com, and check out my Exploring Adoption bookstore.

Adoption Statistics from 2007

2007 has been quite an exciting year for me. I published 227 articles on my Exploring Adoption Blog, which recently celebrated its third anniversary.

If you’re a blog aficionado who insists that any blogger worth her salt should produce 365 posts—minimum—per year, I hope you’ll forgive my lack of productivity when I report what I’ve been up to:

• Being a baseball/basketball/wrestling mom of two active 15- and 11-year-old boys.
• Publishing two adoption books – The Adoption Decision: 15 Things You Want to Know Before Adopting,The Adoption Network: Your Guide to Starting a Support System. When my publishers warned me I’d do just as much work after the books were published as I did while writing them, they were right. Promoting a book is an ongoing effort that demands a seemingly endless amount of time and effort on the author’s part.
• I’ve completed Round 1 of my virtual book tour, have spoken at a variety of venues, and have made several dozen radio and TV appearances.
• I also contributed chapters to two soon-to-be-released adoption-related books. I continue to do PR and editing work for various clients and to write magazine features – I’m working on a profile of Tom Davis, president of Children’s HopeChest, for an upcoming issue of Today’s Christian magazine.
• My most exciting work-related development is the new business I co-founded with my friend, Jim Rubart. He Blogs, She Blogs gives Jim and me a fresh opportunity to apply our marketing, advertising, writing, and public relations skills within the emerging medium of social communications.

Now, back to blogging. In the next few posts, I’m going to share links to the most popular posts on Exploring Adoption during 2007.

We’ll start with posts about adoption statistics, which continue to be the most searched-for articles on my blog:

Statistics About Infant Adoption and Adoption Practitioners

Statistics About Parents Who Place Their Child for Adoption

International Adoptions to U.S. Decrease by 9 Percent in 2006

How Much Does It Cost to Care for a Foster Child?

For more news and information about adoption, visit www.laurachristianson.com, and check out my Exploring Adoption bookstore.

Adoption Support: A Must-Have for Adoptive & Birth Families

If you're a regular reader of my Exploring Adoption blog, you know that I'm a big advocate for getting connected with a community of support -- whether you're an adopted person, a birth/first parent, or an adoptive parent.

I was recently a guest on "Mornings With Scott & Sam" on KCMS Spirit 105.3 in Seattle. We discussed some different ways people can seek support and ways those who have a heart for supporting others can create a support network in their community or church. I invite you to listen to the 9 minute interview (scroll to the bottom of the screen at the Spirit 105.3 site and click the Play button).

I'll send a free copy of my book, The Adoption Network, to the first five people who listen to the interview and comment (at the bottom of this post) about something you learned and/or critique the interview. I'm always trying to improve my speaking skills, and I appreciate your suggestions!

Unplanned Pregnancy: A Christmas Eve Reflection on Mary and Joseph

In the previous post, we looked at how Joseph might have felt when he learned he was going to be the adoptive father of God's son.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, can most certainly relate to the emotions of all women who experience an unexpected pregnancy. When the angel Gabriel shows up to inform the teenage Galilean girl that God has a little surprise in store for her, Mary experiences the shock of her life.

Gabriel bluntly announces, “You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus. He will be great, be called ‘Son of the Highest.’ (Luke 1:31-32, The Message).

Mary trembles with a mixture of excitement and fear at Gabriel’s news. Granted, God has chosen her, a ‘nobody’ peasant girl, to attain the honor that Jewish women throughout history have desired. Yet an instant ethical dilemma accompanies the honor of being pregnant with the promised Messiah: everyone will assume Mary is pregnant out of wedlock.

Sure, she can claim that the Holy Spirit is the birth father of her unborn child. She can tell everyone that the child she’s carrying is the long-awaited Messiah. But she knows that her story will seem far-fetched at the very least. Imagine the thoughts that whirl through Mary’s mind: Why is this happening to me? I’m not married. My fiancé, Joseph, will think I’ve been sleeping with another man!

Joseph probably did think that, because he was prepared to break off the pending marriage. But fortunately, he, too, received an angelic visit that set him straight on the details of Mary’s mysterious pregnancy. Joseph agreed to stick by her, and the two of them (and God) prepared to face the wrath of their world head-on.

Mary and Joseph’s family, friends and neighbors must have thought the young couple had lost their minds. They glared at Mary, accusing her with their eyes: We see right through that outlandish story you’ve invented to cover up the fact that you’ve been a naughty girl. And Joseph – what a dope! That conniving little fiancé of his sure pulled the wool over his eyes. Why doesn’t he just disgrace her publicly or have her stoned?

Mary and Joseph knew that the ostracism, both subtle and blatant, would never diminish as long as they remained in Nazareth. So they released their burden to God. With the assurance that God was in control, they allowed Him to direct their path.

As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the son of Mary, Joseph and God, my prayer is that you release the burdens you’re carrying to God. His Word in Matthew 11:28-30 offers the perfect encouragement: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or unfitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

For more news and information about adoption, visit www.laurachristianson.com, and check out my Exploring Adoption bookstore.

Adoption in the Bible: Jesus

In the last post, we looked at one of the first recorded instances of open adoption: Moses.

The New Testament introduces us another famous person who was adopted: Jesus. In the book of Matthew, we learn that Jesus was informally adopted by his father, Joseph.

When Joseph learns that his fiancée, Mary, is pregnant, he knows he isn’t the biological father (Matthew 1:18-25). He decides to leave Mary quietly in order to avoid a public scandal. Then an angel appears to Joseph and explains that the child Mary is carrying is God’s son—the One who will save his people from their sins. The angel instructs Joseph to name his son Yeshua (Jesus), meaning, “The Lord Saves.”

What a mixture of joy and fear Joseph must have felt when he learned he was going to steward God’s gift to the world by adopting God’s son!

“Joseph’s Lullaby,” sung by Michael Crawford, expresses what Joseph might have been feeling during those moments:

Mary, are you sleeping?
Mary, I'm afraid
Mary, can I live up to
The choice that God has made?

Jesus, can You tell me,
Here upon my knee
What kind of father will I be?

What can I give to You
You, made from miracles
That God has given me to keep?

I can't give much to You
You, made from miracles
But I can hold You as You sleep

What can You learn from me
You, made from miracles
When I've so much to learn from You?

What can a man like me
Offer the miracle
Who taught me miracles come true

Tell me how to guide You
Tell me what to say
Tell me how to show You how
To show the world the way

How to please the angels
Watching from above
When all I have to give You is love

But if it's love You need
You, made from miracles
Then take my hand and hold it tight

And I will give You love
Sweet, little miracle
That God has given me tonight

Sweet, little miracle
Oh, what a miracle
That god has given us tonight

Joseph’s commitment to share Jesus with his birth father was truly a remarkable example for all of us who follow in Joseph’s footsteps.

As you prepare to celebrate Christmas, please remember the women and men who make the difficult decision to release their children into the arms of others, and remember those who graciously accept the responsibility of raising those children. Most of all, remember to thank God for working through the lives of everyday people throughout history in order to demonstrate to us what it means to trust, and to love unconditionally.

I wish you a joyous Christmas!

For more news and information about adoption, visit www.laurachristianson.com, and check out my Exploring Adoption bookstore.

Source for song lyrics:
Actionext.com

Adoption in the Bible: Moses

Some people believe open adoption originated in California during the early 1980s, but the concept has been around a long, long time. In the book of Exodus in the Bible, we learn that Moses’ birth mother, Jochebed, makes an adoption plan for her infant son when the king of Egypt institutes his version of ethnic cleansing.

In Exodus 1, Pharaoh decides the Israelites are “too numerous.” He fears that if war breaks out, the Israelites will join his enemies (a shrewd assumption, particularly since this ruthless king oppressed the Israelites with forced labor). Pharaoh orders his people:

“Every boy that is born, drown him in the Nile” (Exodus 1:22 The Message).

About the time Pharaoh issues this edict, a Hebrew baby named Moses is born to Jochebed and her husband, Amram. They hide their son from the Egyptians for three months. Then, fearing for Moses’ life, Jochebed places her baby in a watertight basket and floats it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. She stations her young daughter Miriam as a lookout.

Pharaoh’s grown daughter discovers the babe, takes pity on him, and decides to adopt him as her own. When Miriam approaches, Pharaoh’s daughter agrees to hire Jochebed to nurse the infant.

The culminating moment in Moses’ adoption comes in Exodus 2:10, after Moses is weaned. His birth mother delivers him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he officially becomes the son of the Egyptian princess.

Jochebed exhibited incredible strength of character in weaving her intricate adoption plan for Moses. She essentially chose his adoptive family by floating the basket near the spot she knew Pharaoh’s daughter would come to bathe. Perhaps Jochebed had heard rumors of the princess’s kind-heartedness. Jochebed hoped against hope the Princess’s servants would coo over the baby and implore Pharaoh’s daughter to rescue him.

Jochebed had no idea what God had in store for her little one, yet she trusted His gentle prompting and she released her baby into His hands. Even though she knew she was giving Moses a chance at life, Jochebed must have felt intense anguish as she tenderly placed her son in the basket and kissed him goodbye.

This article was excerpted from The Adoption Decision by Laura Christianson, copyright 2007 Harvest House Publishers.

In the next two posts: The most famous open adoption in history.

For more news and information about adoption, visit www.laurachristianson.com, and check out my Exploring Adoption bookstore.