Monday, September 28, 2009

“adoption as reality series”

A reality series...it took months to figure out the details.

Adoption Diaries, a new original series on WEtv explores the process behind privately held open adoptions. The series, which premiered September 12, showcases the matching process between the couples and expectant mothers who turn to open adoption.

Each episode follows a different story from the beginning stages, as a birth mother is faced with choosing her baby's future family. Throughout the series Dr. Jennifer Bliss (National Associate Counseling Director and Southern California Branch Co-Director at the Independent Adoption Center) works to match the birthmothers with the right families...


read more here

not what i had planned

Ok, so how old am I now? 44.

I've learned a couple of important things rather late in life:

  1. life is not fair (learn it early)
  2. this is not what i had planned

The first is simple enough. Life is not fair. We should all be taught this from a very young age. When you children say (er whine?) "but it's not fair" please reprogram them to say "life's not fair." because life IS not fair.

Maybe I learned it earlier in life, but it's just now sinking in. We plan to earch our children from an early age that life is not fair.

Ok, on to #2 and this is not what I had planned. At 27, I'd completely given up on ever finding Mr. Right and getting married. I planned to be a single mom and get artificially inseminated someday. (I met my husband in Paris in my 30th year.)

We started trying to get pregnant when I was 34 years old, yes, 10 years ago. This life is so not what I'd planned, not what we'd planned. We thought by now that's we'd have three kids (for the record, I have been pregnant 3 times).

Recently I went to a friend's baby shower. She is 40 and single. She said to me "this is so not what I had planned."

I am in touch with an old boy friend. He found himself divorced and trying to date when he was 36. He said to me "that was so not what I had planned." (He has since remarried and he and his wife adopted a boy from Russia.)

You thought you'd never be married.
You thought you'd never divorce.
You thought you'd have kids.
You thought you'd never have kids.


Life is just never what anyone plans. It's not just me. It's not just my life that isn't going as planned. It's not just my life that isn't fair. No one's life is fair. No one's life is what they'd planned.

Living and learning while we wait to adopt.

book: The Best for You


Adoption is about love for the child, not that the child was not wanted. This heart warming book is aimed to help children and parents understand what one birth mother was thinking when she decided to adopt. Written in her perspective, she tells her child the reasons why she chose adoption for her baby. A great conversation starter for parents, or companion book for adopted children to discuss with other children, this is a unique journey for any child of any age.

Kelsey Stewart is a first time Author/Illustrator who has a unique perspective into adoption. She has been through two adoptions as a birth mother and hopes that this book will help children and adults everywhere understand why a mother might choose to place her child for adoption. Kelsey has lived a full, productive and happy life since her journey as a mother began and considers herself incredibly blessed. She currently resides in Southern California with her husband and their two sons.

Monday, September 21, 2009

From Infertility to Adoption: Knowing When to Move Forward

When is the right time to move from infertility to adoption? When do you emotionally feel ready? Will you ever feel ready and must move forward with other ways of creating your forever family! Mardie Caldwell, through her personal experience and over 20 years of working with couples nation-wide, has made it her life's work to bless children needing forever adoptive parents....

from usaadoptions.com

Saturday, September 12, 2009

journey to adoption - what i've learned so far

Our journey to adoption is so not what I expected.

When we began, we had our hearts set on an open, newborn adoption. As the months passed by and nothing was happening, one birthmom looked at our profile, we changed our hearts and our home study to include two siblings between ages 0–5. This would be a foster-adoption. This would mean closed adoption, not really what we wanted.

We've tried to keep our eyes on the prize. We want a child, a family. We still don't know what that means for us. Our path has changed in so many ways, and who knows, we may still end up with an open adoption and a newborn.

Recently, I asked our social worker what is wrong with us. How come no one has chosen us yet. She said it's not us. It has to do with what we are looking for a healthy, Caucasian child, age 0-5. It seems that's what everyone is looking for. It makes me feel bad when we say we want a Caucasian child. But do to where we live, we know that is what is best for the child. We do want what's best for our future child. But it makes me feel so racist, but we are not. I've talked about this with our social worker, and she says we are wise to consider what's best for our child now, rather than later.

I guess a lot of my problem is that with each passing day, I get older and older (I know, so does everyone else). But I'm 44. I'm old enough to be the mother of some of my friends who are also hoping to adopt! My grandma was a grandma at my age! I never wanted to be an old mom, I wanted to be a cool, young mom. Who would pick me? Who will pick me?

I can't help thinking that getting pregnant would solve all our problems. But I know in my heart, that is not going to happen. And yes, people still say "oh, you'll get pregnant as soon as you adopt." I wish. But that just doesn't happen for everyone, contrary to popular belief.

There are many different paths to adoption. None of them easy. Though it does seem to me that the more money you have, the easier it may be to adopt. We are just "normal" people who want a family. Why is it so difficult for us.

Yesterday, our social worker sent me a list of "older" Russian children who need homes. She asked if there were any we were interested in. There was a 4-year-old boy. So I responded that we were interested in him. I asked if they were already in the states. Her response was no, they are in Russia. She knows we cannot afford to go to Russia, or any other country for that matter, to adopt. Our frustration with our social worker continues to escalate. Has she paid no attention to what we've said this past year? She's seen our financial statement? Hello? What the hell was she thinking, dangling these kids in front of us?

We've asked to change social workers within our family services center. We were told point blank NO. If we want to change social workers, we'd have to go some place else and have a new home study - pay for a new home study. This is all very frustrating.

It gives me such a feeling of being out of control. It's our future, our child's future. But our social worker doesn't seem to care. This is where I know having money would help, then one could afford an agency adoption, one where the social worker would actually work to find a child for a family and a family for a child.

We've been working with our social worker for a year and it seems she still doesn't know who we are or what we hope to find.

Ok, I'm getting off course. Our journey to adoption. Not what we expected a year ago when we decided to grow our family by adoption. I guess we were operating under the "Juno principle." We hoped to find a birthmom who wanted to "kick it old style," someone who is looking for a good, loving home for their family, and not looking to make a fortune.

Juno is the fantasy, not reality.

I once had a birthmom tell me "birthmoms hate Juno, adoptive parents love Juno."

Our child is out there. We are not giving up.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Adoption Diaries

New show premieres Saturday, Sept. 12 at 10p|9c on WE tv

WE tv's new original series, Adoption Diaries, explores the process in which privately held open adoptions take place. The series showcases the matching process between couples who, having struggled with infertility, turn to adoption and the brave, expecting mothers whose difficult and selfless decision to place their children for adoption makes it all possible. Each episode features clients of the Independent Adoption Center, a nationwide nonprofit adoption agency specializing in domestic infant adoptions. The IAC has been a trusted advocate of fully open adoptions for over 25 years. To learn more about the Independent Adoption Center, visit their website at adoptionhelp.org.

My DVR is already set!

PS we still watch “Adoption Stories” every morning on Discovery Health. We've seen some of them at least three times now!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

The path to adoption | TheUnion.com

http://www.theunion.com/article/20090908/NEWS/909079992/1066&ParentProfile=1053

Posted using ShareThis

Monday, September 7, 2009

Julie, Julie & Julia

Ok, so I've been blogging for a year, with no end in sight. How can I get my blog turned into a book and a movie??? And people sent her all that stuff, no one has sent me anything, then again I'm trying to adopt, not cook. I guess all I could hope for is to find a baby in a basket at our front door.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

The Blind Side

“The Blind Side” depicts the remarkable true story of Michael Oher, a homeless African-American youngster from a broken home, taken in by the Touhys, a well-to-do white family who help him fulfill his potential. At the same time, Oher’s presence in the Touhys’ lives leads them to some insightful self-discoveries of their own. Living in his new environment, the teen faces a completely different set of challenges to overcome. As a football player and student, Oher works hard and, with the help of his coaches and adopted family, becomes an All-American offensive left tackle.


The Blind Side - official trailer

in theaters November 20, 2009

“Julie & Julia” It’s About Way More Than Cooking

from the fertility advocate

“...And loved how honestly they handled her infertility in the movie - in a beginning scene when she noticed a baby carriage going by - and her devoted husband gently kissed her hand - in acknowledgment of the pain. And then when her sister got pregnant - and she broke down while saying how happy she was for her. What I loved about that was how her husband loved her - and cared for her through her emotion. This was really a love story on so many levels....”