May 13, 2014

Adoption News Round-up

Here’s a look at some of the interesting news in the adoption world this week:

Huge, huge props to the amazing Jennifer Loomis, a photographer who offered her services to the Northwest Adoption Exchange so that their children could be captured in ways that would showcase their personality and help them speak more strongly to prospective adoptive families. “The goal? To show the “sensitive, vulnerable side of these kids,” said Loomis. “I wanted photos where you could look into their eyes and see into their soul a little bit better, where you could be like, ‘Wow, Deon, what a guy,’ ” she said.” As you’ll see in the article, it worked.

The Huangs—adoptive parents of two children, including one who died last year—are fighting to get leave from Qatar, where they were put in jail after the death of their daughter. Their late daughter, who was Ethiopian, had unusual eating habits that caused medical complications, and the Qatar government is arguing that they in fact murdered her. Many are saying though that this case is the result of a major culture clash, and that the Qatar government can’t imagine why a couple would adopt outside of their own ethnicity. The fight continues, as the couple refuses to give up.

Inter-country adoptions have been suspended between Denmark and Nigeria, after Lagos police arrested eight individuals at a suspected baby factory. “In March, Nigerian police arrested several people, including eight pregnant women, during a raid on a house in Lagos. The women planned to sell their newborns for $2,000 (£1,200) each, reports suggest.”

This birth mother shares her new appreciation for Mother’s Day, now that she has reconnected with her birth daughter.

As for another reconnection…after 23 years, this young woman found her birth mother nearly immediately after embarking on her first search for her birth family online. Now the two talk everyday. What an incredible story!