May 13, 2013
Happy Monday: Adoption News Round-up!
Happy Monday! We hope all you mothers and birth mothers out there had a blessed Birth Mother’s and Mother’s Day. You deserve it. And for all those for whom Mother’s Day this year came as a challenge, you were deep in our hearts, thoughts and prayers. We recognize that it is not an easy day for everyone, so we commend you for your beautiful spirit and for your commitment to loving and supporting children, however that may be for you.
And now, here’s a look at some of interesting links that passed through the adoption world last week:
The quest for same-sex adoption and fostering is not going away. The Huffington Post wrote about a bill that was recently introduced, that would legalize the adoption and fostering of children by same-sex parents: the Every Child Deserves A Family Act. This bill, if passed, would open up 2,000,000 additional homes with LGBT people who want foster or adopt a child, but are currently prohibited by law. “Why…should more than 400,000 children remain in foster care — 104,000 of whom are eligible for adoption — when they could receive this support from loving, capable, and qualified lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender parents?” said PFLAG National Executive Director Jody M. Huckaby in a statement. “This is truly discrimination at its worst: hurtful to the people who are being denied the opportunity to become parents, and harmful to thousands of vulnerable children being denied the opportunity for stable, loving, permanent homes.” Two million homes. That would be life-changing for so many.
MLJ Adoptions, Inc. published a great list of children’s books that deal with transracial adoptions. We love finding new books geared towards adoption, especially ones that tackle more sensitive issues. Perfect for a range of ages, you can get them all and introduce them to your child as they get older.
Tomorrow evening Adoption Learning Partners is hosting a live webinar, “Top Ten Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew.” Led by a panel of adopted people, they discuss what they wish their adoptive parents would have known, feelings they’ve shared with their parents and what they chose to keep to themselves, and their feelings about loss, shame, anger and their love for their parents. It sounds very interesting, and you even have the option to submit or tweet questions to the panel.
Check out this beautiful video, The Agape Project, which aims to spread awareness about the all the love that exists in adoption. You can’t help but be extremely touched and empowered about this wonderful community that you’re apart of.
This is just amazing. A mother wants to have photos taken of her daughter for her 5th birthday, but doesn’t want to follow the Disney Princess trend she sees everywhere. Rather, she decides on a photo shoot that has her little girl emulating real women from history, from Coco Chanel to Amelia Earhart. The photos are beautiful, and we are so thrilled to see a mother so focused on empowering her little girl.