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 up the story from the UK on family preservation from last week, a Liberal Democrat MP has applied to the High Court rule to on lifting secrecy in family court, allowing permission to pass details of cases to watchdog groups.

There is support for this in high places, including from Lord Justice Wall who believes that, "... that allowing the media to report proceedings would help rebut accusations that the family justice system was secretive."

I'd say it's just a good idea all the way around. Privacy is one thing, but the whole concept of it being illegal for families to discuss their cases does not sit well. Open, above-board and transparent all bite the dust when it's so easy to sweep things under the rug and make sure no one ever gets to a peek there.

An interesting article from Richard Klarberg, President of the Council on Accreditation, looks at the impact of horror stories in the news, and states that, "Any disincentive to international adoption is a tragedy."

Citing UNICEF and touting the benefits of adopting from Hague countries make sense when you run an organization that accredits for a living, but he makes valid points no matter how self-serving the agenda may in reality be.

I in no way am indicating that the gentleman is motivated only through personal benefit, but feel it only fair to illustrate the connections.

From Chicago, a a report on international adoption becoming more difficult, and citing new restrictions and political instability in some birth countries.

Families in Quebec have done all right, though, as that city is now Canada's home to most foreign adoptions.

Accounting for near half of the country's 2,000 international adoptions, the province was quick to develop a system of approved agencies, so the process is "generally easy to follow in Quebec."