Some bit and pieces of international news with adoption-related ties ... some loose, I'll admit, but interesting nonetheless ... have been collecting in the corners again, so I'll download them here for perusal.

First, anyone with links to China should check out this site, called Chinese Adoptee Links. Created with a goal to build a global network for "adopted, hapa and fostered people and friends worldwide", it "honors the diversity of our experiences, the richness of our identities, and the importance of our stories."

They also detail events around the country people may be interested in attending, from pen pal workshops to culture camp.

This article from Uganda looks at mothers who go abroad to work to make ends meet.

A very interesting look at what few choices can mean in real-life terms, and the lengths many mothers must go to survive ... often having to go away to stay together.

Opinions and outcomes vary, of course, and while many worry that children will suffer irreparable damage, others argue that children "... can still turn out wrong when you are with them."

A silly story from New Zealand has a couple who'd been dealing with infertility issues so thrilled at the birth of their son that they wanted to name the poor child "4real" ... yes, spelled just that way, as if he'd arrived by text message.

The New Zealand's Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages isn't going for it (4 it?), though. The reason? Numbers aren't allowed.

Well, that would be one. (1 ?)

Dad seems to think it will make the kid's life easier ...

The dad said most people have to look up the meaning of their names in baby books, but "with this name, everyone knows what it means."

That's for (4?) sure ... it means his parents are morons.

And here's something WAY too strange ...

A one year old boy in China was taken by his parents to doctors because he was "unusually fussy". Turns out the little guy had six ... count 'em, six ... sewing needles in his body -- in his chest, in his scrotum and one that had apparently been pushed through the top of his head. All were completely embedded and only discovered in x-rays.

The parents say no strangers have come into contact with the child and they have no idea how their son became a pin cushion.

So, if your one-year-old gets fussy, you might want to check him for embedded metal spikes?