February 03, 2015

Adoption News Roundup

Here’s a look at some of the adoption news that caught our eye on the web this week!

Are you interested in attachment-focused parenting? If so, there’s a webinar coming up this week that might be of interest. Featuring advice on connecting with your child through their development, insights into attachment and attunement, information on finding professional support and resources, and more!

You’ve likely heard the phrase, “What doesn’t kill makes you stronger.” This article aptly argues that there’s not as much truth to that as one might think. “It’s true that we benefit from life’s normal and healthy challenges: We may learn how to resolve disagreements with loved ones or be inspired by teachers who push us to do our best. However, I cringe when I hear the same idea applied to deeper suffering: the emotional or physical experience of being harmed or threatened.”

The IAC posted this interesting look at open adoption and ongoing contact. “While openness can be scary at first, the benefits of ongoing contact are numerous. I think the true benefits come when our children are adults and when we can all look back – the parents, birthparents, and the child – and see the magnitude of what having an open adoption really meant for everyone involved. The true benefits can only be felt by those involved. And those are the people that matter the most.”

Beautiful musings from an adoption consultant about what she wishes people knew about adoption and infertility, including so many heartfelt thoughts from people who’ve experienced it firsthand.

Always an illuminating conversation! Here are three things expectant mothers look for when choosing adoptive parents. Do any of these surprise you?

The Atlantic tackled the notion of the “overprotected kid.” “When you ask parents why they are more protective than their parents were, they might answer that the world is more dangerous than it was when they were growing up. But this isn’t true, or at least not in the way that we think. For example, parents now routinely tell their children never to talk to strangers, even though all available evidence suggests that children have about the same (very slim) chance of being abducted by a stranger as they did a generation ago. Maybe the real question is, how did these fears come to have such a hold over us? And what have our children lost—and gained—as we’ve succumbed to them?”