Thursday, July 31, 2014

Petition update for New York Adoptive Families – Governor Andrew Cuomo: NYS Should Fund Statewide Post Adoption Services

Dear New York Adoptive Parents and Adoption Professionals,
New York State Citizens' Coalition for Children just posted an update:

Governor Andrew Cuomo: NYS Should Fund Statewide Post Adoption Services

1,188 supporters

Need you to call -Federal funding for post adoption services in jeopardy

New York State Citizens' Coalition for Children

Jul 31, 2014

HR 4980—Important Child Welfare Legislation which would fund post adoption services is in jeopardy because of Senator Coburn thinks it is too expensive and unneeded. We need as...

Read more

This message was sent by New York State Citizens' Coalition for Children using the Change.org system. Change.org does not endorse the contents of this message.

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

NCFA: Will I Love Her?

94af01308d1182b92fb84ef54eb83c4e

Love and Attachment in Adoption

By Daniel Nehrbass, PH.D.

When my best friend heard that my wife and I were planning to adopt, he asked, “Do you think you will be able to love your child as much as you would if she were your own?”

Those of us who have adopted know that our adopted children are “our own.” Yet this question posed by my friend revealed a fear that lay within himself, and in the minds of many prospective adoptive parents.

My wife and I met when we were in the eighth grade. We married seven years later, at the age of twenty. We talked about adoption before we were married, but did not envision how large a role it would play in our life together. Three years into our marriage, we received a diagnosis that determined conception would be impossible for us.

Read more (PDF)

Monday, July 28, 2014

Important Adoption Notice: Delay in Passport and Visa processing times continue

7a372d6c74e4e1659e9676cdee68c696

July 28, 2014

“As of July 27, the Department of State has made continued progress on restoring our system to full functionality. As we restore our ability to print visas, we are prioritizing immigrant cases, including adoptions visas. System engineers are performing maintenance to address the problems we encountered. As system performance improves, we will continue to process visas at U.S. Embassies and Consulates worldwide. We are committed to resolving the problem as soon as possible. Additional updates will be posted to travel.state.gov as more information becomes available.”

Friday, July 25, 2014

News from Ukraine: Two Families

News from Ukraine: Please keep our two Hopscotch families in your thoughts and prayers as they travel to bring their children home from Ukraine.

Ukraine Flag for Cantrell & Ward.jpg 07-22-2014

U.S. Database Glitch Delays Passport, Visa Processing

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/07/24/334886736/u-s-database-glitch-delays-passport-visa-processing

By Scott Neuman

The U.S. State Department's global database for processing visas and passports is experiencing problems that could cause delays for millions of people around the world who are awaiting travel documents.

The Associated Press writes:

"Unspecified glitches in the department's Consular Consolidated Database have resulted in 'significant performance issues, including outages' in the processing of applications for passports, visas and reports of Americans born abroad since Saturday, spokeswoman Marie Harf said. She said the problem is worldwide and not specific to any particular country, citizenship document, or visa category."

" 'We apologize to applicants and recognize this may cause hardship to applicants waiting on visas and passports. We are working to correct the issue as quickly as possible,' she said."

Read more.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Monday, July 21, 2014

Transformed

Transformed...

Growing, learning, thriving, laughing, loving, teaching...

A blessing beyond measure...

Happy Together Forever Day, Rex.

We love you because you are you.


*Three years ago today, on July 14, 2011, Rex finally left the orphanage that had been all he ever knew to join our family as our cherished son.

Blog: Together Forever Day 2014

Source: http://martiniadoptionroad.blogspot.com/2014/07/why-not-us.html

print-6344 *July 13, 2011 was Rex's last full day and night at the orphanage where he spent the first 28 months of his life.

When an adoption journey turns out well and the child you bring home lives up to the dreams and expectations you had, it's easy to say it was meant to be.  The child is just as smart as the biological children in the family, just as athletic as his mommy, just as into books and reading as her daddy, just as crazy about roller coasters as the cousins, just as creative as grandma... how could such a perfect fit not be meant to be?

But when you adopt a child and after coming home find out that things are not as you thought and will never be as you imagined, many families ask, "Why us?  Why did it have to turn out like this for us?"  The question is often posed with a tremendous amount of grief, frustration, fear, anger, and disappointment.  It comes from a painful place of shattered dreams, uncertain futures, and monumental new challenges.

Read more.

Monday, July 7, 2014

The Problem With Little White Girls, Boys And Voluntourism

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pippa-biddle/little-white-girls-voluntourism_b_4834574.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

By Pippa Biddle

o-PIPPA-BIDDLE-570

White people aren't told that the color of their skin is a problem very often. We sail through police check points, don't garner sideways glances in affluent neighborhoods, and are generally understood to be predispositioned for success based on a physical characteristic (the color of our skin) we have little control over beyond sunscreen and tanning oil.

After six years of working in and traveling through a number of different countries where white people are in the numerical minority, I've come to realize that there is one place being white is not only a hindrance, but negative -- most of the developing world.

Read more.

News from Armenia: Congrats to our Hopscotch family today on a successful court hearing. Hurry Home!!

Its%20a%20Boy%20All%20The%20Way%20From%20Armenia%2007-07-2014

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Winning Over Reluctant Family to Your Adoption Plans

Source: http://www.creatingafamily.org/blog/httpwwwcreatingafamilycomblogadoption-domestic-international-embryo-fostercarewinning-over-reluctant-family-to-your-adoption-plans/

Thanks Dawn Davenport @ Creating A Family

disapproving-old-lady After deciding that adoption is the right choice for building your family, you naturally want everyone to be as excited as you.  Unfortunately, this may not happen.  While you are at the screaming it from the roof top stage, your parents, siblings and extended family may be at the “Slow down and consider your options” stage or the “Are you nuts” stage.  Remember that your decision to adopt evolved over time after much researching, soul searching, discussing, and praying.  Unless you’ve shared every step of this journey with them, your family has not had the benefit of this process.  So while it might be nice if they were totally psyched about your adoption, it’s probably unfair to expect them to be at the same place as you.

So what do you do if your family doesn’t share your excitement about your adoption plans?  First, if you think you may get a less than enthusiastic response, consider writing your family a letter telling them of your decision before you talk with them in person.  We chose this approach with my husband’s parents.  They like to think about things and discuss it between themselves before talking with others, so a letter gave them this opportunity.  Also, a letter allowed us to explain our reasons, and set the stage for their response by telling them how excited we were.

If you tell them in person, think about what you want to say and choose your words carefully.  One friend reported that she started the conversation with “I’ve got great news!”  Her parents assumed she was going to tell them she was pregnant, and their initial response at learning of the adoption was less than she had hoped.  They recouped quickly, however, and are now doting grandparents to her two children.

Read more.