For a look at the human side of the present situation in Guatemalan adoptions, here's an article that has a parental angle, although what's happening with the kids involved who had been living at Casa Quivira doesn't seem to be being mentioned anywhere.

If this turns out to be nothing more than political maneuvering or some sort of grandstanding, heads should roll.

From Evansville, Indiana,, this story titled, "Global adoption as answer" profiles an hour-long radio documentary airing there on local families that have adopted internationally.

The broadcast features a Korean-born woman adopted in the 1950s, a family that adopted children from Mexico and Brazil in the 1980s, and a Guatemalan-born toddler welcoming her new Chinese-born sister home.

Titled, "Internationally Born, Indiana Raised", you can hear more by following the links here.

A UK organization that provides post-adoption support is about to raise its profile through a public relations campaign.

After Adoption provides advice and support to the one in four people in the UK who have a connection to adoption and runs a national helpline focusing on the needs of young people with adoption-related issues.

If you're adopting domestically, you might want to consider adding to the list of information you'd like from biological parents, as this report suggests that knowing how much sugar a child's first mother ingested during pregnancy might impact how your child will deal with food.

A new study from the British Journal of Nutrition is suggesting that unborn babies can have their eating habits programmed by their mother's choices, and that those gestated in a sugary environment may be at risk of obesity.

There's parenting news abounding today, although this story seems a bit of a no-brainer to me.

Seems a Saint Louis University researcher has determined that children whose mothers are depressed are less likely to develop problem behaviors if their fathers are actively engaged in family life.

Ya think?

Chang's study is unprecedented not only because it examined a father's role in a household with a depressed mother but because it followed the children with multiple assessments throughout childhood and adolescence in a continuous context.

I suppose that's one way to make sure your work gets attention ... just stick with it year after year, no matter how obvious the outcome.

As a campaigner myself, this review of a new film caught my eye.

The article, "Growing up is tough when parents are saving world", highlights a film called "Blame it of Fidel", a look at a young girl whose parents become caught up in major efforts to change the world for the better and shift focus from their daughter in the process.

Sounds interesting.

An examination of social reforms and academic achievement and how it is impacted by environment is what this Washington Post article is about.

Moving kids from rough inner-city neighborhoods to more middle-class surroundings has been found in the study in the report to have had no significant impact.

"Research has in fact found surprisingly little convincing evidence that neighborhoods play a key role in children's educational success," says one of the two reports on the Web site of the Hoover Institution's journal Education Next.

And finally, the FDA has issued a warning advising parents to never give cough and cold medicine to children under the age of two unless they've been told to by a doctor.

The warning is part of a broad plan to reassess the safety of the medicines, which have been blamed for hundreds of hospitalization and a handful of deaths in U.S. toddlers and infants.

"Questions have been raised about the safety of these products and whether the benefits justify any potential risks from the use of these products in children, especially in children under 2 years of age," the FDA said in a statement.