Scottish rocker KT Tunstall has credited her brother, Daniel for wiping out whatever malaise she might have experienced related to her being an adopted member of her family.

Daniel was born deaf, and his disability put the circumstances of her birth into perspective for her: "Any personal woes I had with being adopted - which I don't remember having - were wiped out next to that."

And for working moms who might be suffering guilt pangs, ... more

If you have not yet seen this, here is the US State Department's latest notice on what is happening with the Hague, announcing that the President signed the "U.S. instrument of ratification of the Hague Adoption Convention" on the 16th of this month.

This puts everything in line for "deposit of the instrument of ratification" on the 12th of December.

The Department will announce the official date the Convention will go into force for the United States—projected to be April 1, 2008—in the Federal Register.

All rah-rah with loads... more

From my not favorite British paper, the Telegraph, a story about Stay At Home Dads (SAHDs) that has me reacting in a couple of different ways.

Quoting a government study of 6,000 British families, researchers at Bristol University are saying that boys raised by fathers while mothers are at work are "less prepared for education" when they start school.

Girls, are okay with it ... but boys?

"We find robust evidence that boys [but not girls]... more

We have been following the on-again/off-again saga of the Canadian Province of Ontario's dealing with open adoption records for a while now as legal maneuvers shift goal posts often, and sometimes within days of the last move. Now, apparently, there is an amended bill in the works.

Looking at a compromise of sorts, the point now is to allow a disclosure veto for adoptions in the past while making... more

Anyone with ties to Bulgarian orphans will be interested in this story on a photography exhibit at the Montserrat College of Art in Bevelry, Mass. that features the work of eight young Bulgarian kids without families.

The show called, "Uncovering Identity: The Bulgarian Photo Project," began when Assistant Professor Kate Jellinghaus handed out camera to kids in state-run institutions.

... Jellinghaus gave them cameras to go out and chronicle their lives, she didn't send them out to portray... more

I can almost hear the gnashing of teeth coming from the part of the adoption community that hates everything about National Adoption Month as MSN carries four pages of "This is What Adoption Feels Like" on their huge site.

Here's how five families found their way along that unforgettable journey, and how one woman made the wrenching decision to give up her child — plus, everything you'll need to know if you decide to make adoption a... more

An AP article on open birth records starts out with a statement I have to disagree with:

It's among the most divisive questions in the realm of adoption: Should adult adoptees have access to their birth records, and thus be able to learn the identity of their birth parents?

You see, in my experience there is no question at all about open records, but there are plenty of other issues that are most certainly divisive as all get out. I have yet to come across even one person from any angle of the triad who thinks entitling everyone involved to all the... more

Readers of yesterday's International Adoption post on Indian food and tap dancing chimps are welcome to note my clairvoyant powers and wonder in amazement about the size and clarity of my crystal ball, but predicting that the media would be sleazy and lazy enough to appropriate the Zoe's Ark mess, truss up a few bits, pre-masticate the blob, then present the results on a plate for mass consumption was a practice in little more than reading that oh-so-obvious writing on the wall.

I didn't have to look too far into the future, either, as only 24 hours later the Voice... more

Many of those interested in news on adoption from Russia keep ahead of the curve by reading Virginia's blog and probably don't need me to tell them that three-quarters of a million Russian kids are orphaned or abandoned, but there are a few reports today that have me writing on the topic today, nonetheless.

This story from "Russia Today" looks at adoption on the Russian domestic front and tries to convince people in the country to "'get rid of certain myths and prejudices surrounding children who have lost their parents... more

I have just come across something that has brought an extra furrow or two to my already worried brow, and I would like to trot it out here and ask if my concern appears to others to be warranted.

From the president of Origins USA, Bernadette Wright, with a "please forward far and wide!" message as a header, it's a call for stories for People Magazine "seeking recent victims of unethical adoptions", with a deadline for updates of today, the 7th of November.

Although I understand Ms. Wright's hope that this "could be a great opportunity to increase public awareness of coercive and exploitative adoption practices", I can't help but question such enthusiastic urgings to participate... more