Blog/Blogger

While I am new to this blogging community (and very excited to join the team!), my story has been years in the making so I'll start this relationship by sharing a bit of it... I was fortunate enough to be among those first pioneers for open adoption. I didn't even know this until about seven years ago when I set out to write my memoir and did some research. At the time all I knew was that I was pregnant, 20 years old, with no birth father around and no job. And even though I had begun talking with a counselor at Catholic Charities about the adoption choice, one thing held me back: there was no way I could say goodbye… [more]

To celebrate the first birthday of the Open Adoption Blogroll, Heather at Production, Not Reproduction invited OA bloggers to participate in the Open Adoption Bloggers Interview Project. My partner for the project was Weaver, an adult who was raised in open adoption, who blogs at Communities Don’t Get Built.... Many hopeful adoptive parents seek out the input and experiences of first parents and adoptees in an attempt to understand more about what adoption means to those on the other sides of the triad. (And if you’re not doing this, you should be. But that’s a topic for another post.) But far fewer adoptive parents actively seek to learn more about the experiences of those first parents and adoptees who write from an anti-adoption perspective. It’s human nature, after all… [more]

I've been thinking long and hard about sharing some wise words from an adoptive mother about open adoptions here on the blog. All week, I've been trying to find the right words to share this post from Dawn over at This Woman's work. In her post, she really lays it on the line about some issues surrounding open adoption, adoptive parents and responsibility. I've wanted to share these words with our readers here because I feel that they are so vital to so many. But I'm a birth mother. It's fine for Dawn to be in-your-face about responsibility in adoption because she's an adoptive mother. But me? I'm just one of those birth mothers. I need to walk on eggshells when I talk about responsibility because, well, as someone… [more]

This past year has been a really terrific experience for me. The opportunity to blog here has been a good one over all, with quite a bit shared about myself, as well as learned from others. As I was looking back over my post for 2007, I began thinking about those that I am especially proud of, and those that I feel I was successful in capturing what I wanted to say. There are quite a few, and I wanted to take the opportunity to link back to them here, just in case you might have missed some of them. Of course my kids are very important to me, and I blog about them a lot. Sometimes what I have had to say is very emotional, both… [more]

That’s right, today is my one year anniversary of blogging at Adoptionblogs.com, as hard as it might be for even me to believe! In place of the usual New Year’s eve party last December 31st, I was home watching the ball descend at Time’s Square on television, and posting my very first blog entry. I admit that I missed the ringing in of the new year because I was so anxious to get started on what I hoped would be a very exciting adventure sharing my personal perspectives on adoption. The year certainly has been all that I thought it would be in that respect. I met a lot of wonderful fellow bloggers, as well as some terrific readers in 2007. It has been a… [more]

I know I have commented before about some fellow adoptive parents, who feel they have the ability to totally understand the birthparent experience, and how much that attitude bugs me. I have been told time and time again, by the few who think they have it all figured out, how some of the rest of us just don’t “get it." As if some adoptive parents could ever really have a handle on what birthparents go through! My own belief is that no way do I know what it feels like to be a birthparent, I barely have a clue, but I do want to listen and learn. While reading in the blog world the other day I ran across a post by Paragraphein which… [more]

Recently, Heather refreshed the memory of her readers, by clearly sharing her core views about adoption. For those who might be a bit “hard of reading”, they were in bold so the point could be easily grasped. I was not surprised by anything there, her views have remained the same as they were years ago when she wrote a publication for the organization C.U.B., “What you should know if you are considering adoption for your baby”. At the time I first came across Heather’s well written publication, we were seeking to adopt a second child. For my husband and I, the information was valid, and well presented, and therefore something we chose to include in our profile packets for any mothers considering… [more]

Last night I had a wonderful phone conversation with my friend and co-blogger Coley about her BirthMom Buds event this weekend. By all accounts it was an emotional, healing, supportive event, enjoyed by all the moms who attended. I send Kudos to my dear friend for being such a great person, a super friend to so many, and a mom both her children, placed and parented, can truly be proud of! If you have never heard of BirthMom Buds I encourage a visit to the website and a look around. There is really something for all moms who have a connection to adoption, but most especially the group is there as a friend to friend support network for women who have placed… [more]

When you finally welcome a child through adoption like most parents you will experience a huge, almost undescribable surge of pride. Believe me you will want to show and tell the whole world how great your kids are, and who could blame you! I remember in May, 2003 when my girls Danika and Cierra were 5 ½ years and 10 mons respectively I must have snapped a dozen pictures one day on our front porch, but their wonderful, giggly smiles in one particular photo was so sweet that I mailed it off to Adoptive Families Magazine for a possibility of being included in the “Family Album” page. Soon it was August and I had almost forgotten that I sent it… [more]

Ok, today it hit me that I am quickly running out of month here! I have been sick in some way or another so much these first two months blogging that I now find myself way, way behind. I am in high hopes that spring (which is just around the corner?) will bring some better health and a reawakening of my tired brain cells. I can tell you I am getting flustered though. I know full well I have beaten the uneventful “Dr. Phil Show” like a dead horse to get a post here and a post there and I am running out of clever, witty, informative stuff to whip up and serve you out there. How about the cute card ? Well I… [more]