Lots of adoption information in the news today, some specific to countries while some relates to a wider spectrum touching adoption; information great and small, so to speak.

Starting with a website for international adoptive parents who would like their children to maintain or re-establish relationships with un-adopted siblings in birth countries.

"Save Orphaned Siblings" encourages " ... adoption when appropriate, but also work to raise awareness about the plight of orphaned siblings and how to create alternatives to adoption in order to foster sibling relationships, when adoption is not feasible."... more

An article on birth mothers called, "They never forgot", takes another look at the women forced to surrender babies in the years of the "conspiracy of silence" that followed the end of WWII.

Many women who gave up babies fought depression, developed traumatic stress disorders or turned to alcohol and drugs to numb their chronic grief. Others became super-achievers to prove to their parents that they could have been a fine mother. Some spoke regretfully of how they remained emotionally distant from the children they later had. Others never had another child because they... more

Word from the Adoption.com forums has it that it's now taking over three months to renew passports in the US, so reminders are out that anyone considering International Adoption should take this on board and plan accordingly. Name changes are reported to be taking the longest to process.

With valid passports necessary in the very early stages of the process, having your official docs ducks in line will make a big difference on how long an adoption will take.

Following... more

Looking to meet up with other adoptive families for a day of fun?

An organization called Adoptive Families and Friends, located in Western Maryland, is holding a social get together at Idlewild and SoakZone, located in Ligonier Pennsylvania, on July 15, 2007.

Adoptive Families and Friends is composed of families who have adopted their children from the foster care system, internationally, parents who are matched with a child but still... more

Some reports out of India have me reeling today ... reeling and despairing for humanity, or what little of that there often is.

This story is one of the worst I've read in a very long time, but so very unfortunately not one bit special or unique, simply not often recounted.

A two-day old baby girl was found buried alive in a farmer's field in rural India. The farmer discovered her when her tiny hand stuck up out of the dirt. She'd never been fed. Her mother's father has confessed to trying to kill her.

"I am yet to marry off four daughters and cannot take responsibility... more

A little late to the table on this one, I've just been sent info on the American Express Member Project, and it's not too late to participate in the voting, even if the time has passed for nominations.

This project is for American Express members, and it takes only a registration click or two to contribute a dollar to the winning idea ... up to a possible $5 million.

More than 7,000 ideas were submitted, and the top fifty are impressive and run the gamut from... more

The news comes from all over today, so we might as well start with this report from Sri Lanka ... an update on tsunami orphans.

Touting life in a children's home as the cause of making a child happy, the comparison to post-disaster placement with an aunt who beat her regularly does make it sound like an improvement.

Now receiving psycho-social support through programs provided by organizations like UNICEF and the Christian Children's Fund, the girl says:

"I am glad to be alive. I was scared to speak out for almost two years but I'm not afraid... more

Jan Baker's post on family preservation prompted me to closely examine two stories in the news out of Britain today.

Both the article in the Telegraph and one in the Daily Mail focus on an increasing number of babies being removed from biological families, taken into care and made available for adoption.

Saying that there has been... more

A new movie out of India is taking on the adoption theme in true Bollywood fashion. With a hunchbacked, black-toothed ghoul of an orphanage director , babies and toddlers going to families while the older kids are forced to sleep on threadbare mats and eat "unappetising yellow rice", it's only cricket that can save the day.

Not A cricket. The game of cricket; the mind-numblingly boring pastime that works people in some parts of the world into a frenzy and apparently provides the a gateway to the better life.

A magic cricket bat, no little drama, a life lesson or two, and everyone lives happily... more

Although the US State Department has had an announcement of a suspension of Nepalese adoptions posted since mid-May, the news appears to just be getting around in some quarters.

Reporting that Nepal has suspended international adoptions, the Ministry of Children is quoted as saying, "“Child adoption from Nepal has been temporarily stopped... more