Last year, I was contacted to be interviewed for a documentary about birthmothers. It’s always hard to completely go back there and even with the emotional support provide, it’s not pleasant. Yet, sometimes you have to take the chance and do the hard stuff. I figure, no one will hear us if we sit in the shadows. Needless, to say, I went. Documenting the Adoption Story It was, as always,…
Dear Oprah,
Welcome to the Adoption Community! I know you didn’t plan on being one of us, but I have seen that often adoption sneaks up on people. I don’t think many of us actually plan on being part of this group. SO after you find out there was family you didn’t know you had, then there is a bigger all inclusive family that you never knew you had in the adoption community. We understand.
I wanted to share this.. As the world lights candles in preparation to celebrate the birth of a child who changed the course of history on Christmas Eve, New England Firstmothers and over 500 members of the Sunflower Sisters will celebrate Christmas Eve by lighting a candle in memory of births which changed their own personal histories. This year will mark the 11th Annual Christmas Eve Candle Lighting for these…
“In choosing adoption they can now see themselves as good mothers, the highest form of motherhood – the mother who chooses what is best for her child regardless of sacrifice it requires of her. In doing what is best for her child, she fulfills her need to see herself as a good mother and accept the pain of relinquishment. In this way, she transforms agony of the entire story into a redemptive experience where she becomes a heroine in her own eyes and in the eyes of others.”
Current rates of adoption at most pregnancy resource centers are extremely low. Although no formal statistics exist, spot-checking adoption rates at larger centers indicate that it should rates commonly are below 1%. In 1999, the Family Research Council undertook further research to understand complex array of factors involved in considering adoption and how best to present adoption as a viable option for women.The research is designed to identify underlying factors that either inhibit or motivate the consideration of adoption in both single, pregnant women and in pregnancy counselors. The research focused on discovering the most basic impressions that women in counselors have about adoption and on the psychological dynamics of decision making concerning adoption.
One cannot begin to understand the truths about adoption and to gain insight into the life of those adopted without hearing about the writings of BJ Lifton. How many times have I heard an adoptee credit her books as a pivotal point in feeling understood or coming to terms regarding their own life experience. As a birthmother, BJ Lifton represented more than an adoptee voice, she was for many THE…
I couldn’t sleep last night. We had spent the whole day in the mountains of the Shawangunks Mountains, hiking with the kids, and then they elected to stay over Grandma’s so Rye and I had a sudden night free. So we meandered back through town, stopping along the way; over the High Falls Cafe where I was thrilled to see my former apartment dweller neighbor Becky, then through town where…
I don’t know why I haven’t written about this before. I guess things have just been crazy busy this year and until now, it just has not been on my radar. An Academic Adoption Conference in NY Anyway back in the end of March I ran across a link to Sixth Biennial Adoption Conference – Open Arms, Open Minds: The Ethics of Adoption in the 21st Century. Being that it…
About Myself, About Judgment, About Adoption, About the World. As I said a lot this past weekend at BlogHer ’10 in New York City, I wore a lot of hats. Part of me went to BlogHer as the Dragon Search Social Media Queen and I have a “Marketer’s View of BlogHer” over at the work blog, but part of me went to BlogHer as “Claudia the Adoption Blogger from Grown…
About four and half minutes, it’s almost like being there! “cept the hugs are virtual! I swear I picked the music becasue it fit the “feel” that I wanted, but wow, what do you think of the lyrics? Led Zeppelin Bron-y-aur Stomp “Adoptee Rights” Lyrics All the good times we had, I sang love songs so glad Always smiling, never sad So fine As we walk down the country lanes…
1 week travelling over 2000 miles in the Bastardmobile on 30 hours sleep! The Adoptee Rights Demonstration is really one of my favorite events of the year and it keeps getting better and better! There is no way I can adequately describe the sum of the experience, but I shall; try.. I shall try! My Adoptee Rights Demonstration Adventure Begins…. Tuesday July 20th: I leave home in Kingston, NY with…
However, since GSA is often a part in adoption reunions, I would actually say that it is NORMAL to the adoption experience and again, another reason WHY we must talk about it and acknowledge that it is here. I have seen it stated in some places that GSA feelings can occur in 50% of adoption reunion situations. That makes it common to the adoption experience.
The Ugly Mythology of Motherhood Today A few weeks ago, we met up with some friends who have a lovely child who is just about two. The mom and I were talking about the inevitable “terrible twos” and her concerns that her daughter hits. I was in my soothing “older mom been there done that” role and was saying how all kids hit at age two. I do call it…
If you are unsure, then take the time and view the videos.. watch them all.. and then make an opnion. She might have started on koolaid, but it wore off on her too. Part 1: Annette Baran Interview
Tweet for Mary Gauthier’s The Foundling I have 6 copies of Adoptee Mary Gauthier’s The Foundling to give away for free, but you have to Tweet for them! Let me explain… When I first heard of Mary Gauthier and her upcoming CD release titled The Foundling, I was really excited.. so I wrote her an email and she replied! Then when I got to see her perform at the Rosendale…