1. ANNOUNCEMENTS:
   - November is National Adoption Awareness Month
   - Arkansas Adoptable Children Added to Photolisting
   - AdoptionPoetry.com Is Live
2. THE ADOPTION BLOG - adoption web log by Nancy Ashe
3. HIGHLIGHTED ARTICLES
4. ADOPTION NEWS
5. FEATURED ADOPTION PRODUCT
6. FEATURED WAITING CHILD
7. MEET NEW HOPEFUL ADOPTIVE PARENTS
8. ADOPTION GEM - inspirational thought
9. ADOPTION BUZZ - recent message board discussions
10. JUST FOR THE FUN OF IT - clean weekly humor
11. FEATURED ADOPTION PROFESSIONAL
12. COUNSEL FROM AN ADOPTEE AND A BIRTH MOTHER
13. SPEAK OUT - contributions from our readers
14. ADOPTION POETRY
15. ADOPTION CALENDAR - adoption events, seminars, & chats

Adoption Network - Creating families...one miracle at a time. Start your adoption today; it's easier than you think. Caring & compassionate services.

Adoptive Families Magazine - Starting out in adoption? Helpful tips, useful resources from Adoptive Families Magazine online.

Adopting for Tomorrow Magazine - Committed to serving adoptive and potential adoptive parents as an invaluable resource by providing the most current and relevant information on domestic and international adoption.

AIRS - Adoption and Information Reporting Software - Secure web-based software system developed specifically for adoption professionals. Manage all aspects of the adoption process. Call 888-313-9123 or e-mail.

e-DOPT - Leading adoption management software for int'l and domestic placements, designed by TPS systems, a foremost provider of child tracking systems for private, government and oversight organizations.

As Simple As That - Join Dr. Arthur Becker-Weidman, CSW-R. DABPS, Dianne Kuchlak, MSS, LCSW, and Nancy Geoghegan, founder of attachmentdisorder.net in a series of interactive webcasts.

November is National Adoption Awareness Month
In celebration of National Adoption Awareness Month, Adoption.com has created national-adoption-month.adoption.com. This website has ideas on how to celebrate events and includes a calendar of activities for the month. Click here to learn the history of this holiday and to use free toolkit material.

Arkansas Adoptable Children Added to Photolisting
Adoptable children from Arkansas have been posted on the Adoptable Kids Exchange, located at photolisting.adoption.com. Inquiries on the children are being forwarded to the Arkansas contact person. Arkansas, thank you for letting us help your children get more exposure and increase their possibilities for placement in permanent homes.

AdoptionPoetry.com Is Live
AdoptionPoetry.com is a resource of hundreds of poems describing all aspects of the adoption and foster care experience. Come share the experiences of others and contribute your own.

Answering Questions About Adoption - Before getting started helping others grow in their understanding of and involvement with adoption, it's wise to make sure we have the basics covered in our own understanding. See if you can answer 6 adoption-related questions well enough to be able to explain adoption to someone else...more.

The views expressed by the authors are solely their own, and for which the authors are responsible. These views do not necessarily represent the views of Adoption Week e-Magazine.

Total System Reform Overview - new article by Lawrence P. Adams
All states should be on the same page regarding how children are treated when they are taken away from bios, how their parents should be dealt with and what needs to happen to them regarding reunification with their children, if possible. If not; how those children can be adopted by a family that wants them. Imagine losing some of your basic legal rights -- things you take for granted -- simply because you have left one state and entered another...more

Adoption Disruption - contributed by MN ASAP
The following article includes information that helps adopting parents and case workers work together in order to decrease the likelihood of extensive grief after adoption disruption. It gives parents who have experienced an adoption disruption tips as to how to deal with the situation...more

I Love My Mother - article by Angela Chance
In February of 2003, the agency contacted me and informed me that it had been 8 weeks since a letter had been sent to my birth mom. They had not received any response, which typically means that the birth mother does NOT want contact. at the end of August 2004, the agency contacted me and left a message: "Hello Angela, I just wanted to let you know I have sent another letter to your mother. We should be hearing something any day now; I know you must be very excited." I called back and was angry. I said, "You have already sent a letter, and she didn't respond. She doesn't want contact; IT'S OVER, FORGET ABOUT IT!"...more

It Takes More to Make You a Parent... - article by SH
None of them have ever even discussed the thought of doing any searching, even though she said she feels like her oldest brother should. She said he has always had a hard time with being adopted. Anyway, I think some adoptees are happy with their parents and family and don't think about "where they came from." I give that to being raised by a loving family in a happy home...more

Read these articles at e-magazine.adoption.com, and submit your adoption-related articles for publication in Adoption Week e-Magazine and Adoption.com.

Mom Wants to Adopt Daughter She Lost
Seven years ago, a Hamilton County magistrate ruled Peggy Fugate was an unfit mother and permanently severed her parental rights. Assuming her daughter would be put in a stable, loving home, Fugate did not fight the termination. Now, having cleaned up, married and finding her child is still in the foster care system, Fugate wants her daughter back, even if it means adopting her...more

Volusia Judge Orders Boy Returned To Foster Parents
A judge ordered a 3-year-old boy returned to the foster couple who cared for him for more than a year before relatives won custody of him. The Baklids cared for Christian as foster parents for 16 months and were planning to adopt him in March 2003 when the Delks stepped forward and applied for adoption. DCF deferred to the boy's blood relatives and awarded custody to the Delks in June 2003 without giving the Orange City couple a chance to argue...more

State To Allow Some Felons To Become Foster Parents
New Hampshire has a new policy that allows some felons to become foster parents. The policy allows social workers to decide, case-by-case, if someone would make a good foster parent, even if they have a criminal record. The old rules banned anyone with a criminal record...more

Jolie's Russian Adoption Angers Nationalists
Angelina Jolie's plans to adopt a Russian baby have been met with opposition from politicians who claim she has failed to follow official procedures...more

Embryo Adoption: Giving Babies a Second Chance at Life
Embryos are often talked about in terms of their value in medical research, but more and more couples are discovering embryo adoption -- not only to save embryos from destruction, but also to help build the families they have always dreamed about...more

Read more headlines at news.adoption.com.

Adopted Teens Only: A Survival Guide to Adolescence - This just released publication tackles the tough issues that parents are often reluctant to discuss with their teenager. Adopted teenagers will discover what feelings and thoughts are common to the adoptive experience, what adoptive parents feel, what birth parents feel, what emotional issues are connected with search and reunion, how to talk to parents about adoption questions and how being adopted with help them in becoming an adult...more

Find 1,000+ other adoption products at adoptionshop.com.

Kayla is very talkative and active. She is excitable and likes to explore her surroundings. She likes to receive a lot of attention. She does fairly well with others in school. She has won metals in the Special Olympics! Kayla is loveable enjoys learning new things. She goes to public school and usually makes good grades. A home that can adopt a sibling group is needed. A parent must be very patient, calm, organized, nurturing, committed, and able to provide appropriate limits, reasonable expectations, and logical consequences. Kayla will need a lot of attention, time and energy from a parent. A two-parent family with a strong, stable marriage is a must. more

Photolisting.adoption.com is a free community service of adoption.com featuring thousands of children awaiting loving, permanent homes. Add your agency's waiting children to photolisting.adoption.com, and help them find loving homes faster... more

• Jeff & Pam (KS)
• Vinnie & Jane (NY)
• Warren & Sharon (NC)

Are you pregnant? Visit parentprofiles.com (a service of Adoption Profiles, LLC) to find the right adoptive parents for your baby. Are you a hopeful adoptive parent? Build your profile.

• Guatemala Adoption: - Feedback on Bi-racial Challenges
• Adoption Support Groups: - Why Do Aparents Think We Don't Need to Know the Kids Are OK?
• Birth Mother Support: - A Day in the Life of a Soon-to-Be Birth Mom!
• Adopting After Infertility: - "Real" Mom
• African American Adoptive Parents: - Adoptive Mom Talks

For more on-line adoption discussions, visit adoptionforums.com.

Truly Poetic?

Contributed by: Bob Hiller

Share your humorous story or joke.

West Sands Adoption - Provo, UT
Phone: (801) 377-4379  E-mail: inquiry@eaci.com
Services: • Adoption Agencies • Counselors & Therapists • Home Studies • International Adoption
Countries: • China • Haiti...more

Question:

My husband was adopted at 8 months old, 37 years ago when given up at birth meant staying in a foster home for 6 months until okayed to be adopted. His adopted dad has passed away and his adopted mother is 70 this year. We have tried over the years to ask questions/get answers from her on separate occasions because she never tells the same story the same. She tells us his mother didn't want him, but his father's family did. We have the name he would have been if not put up for adoption, but are unsure what to do next. His adopted mom isn't very emotionally supportive of anything we do and rarely takes a positive role as grandmother or mother in our lives. My mother has passed on and I guess we are in search of 'family'.

My husband supported me last year as I found my biological father, who denied me then died. It was a long process that took many years of pain and tears. I am ok now and thankful my Mother never married him, or chose to let such a nasty man into my life. But my husband is now questioning if he should try to track down his biological parents. We are in the process of filling out our homestudy to adopt, have two small daughters of our own, and recently moved.

My question is should I begin the search for him quietly or let it go? He never accomplishes anything unless given a push and occasionally talks of finding his birth parents only when we have talked of my family. He was always 'all right' with being adopted, he says, but since I came into his life as a wife 10 years ago he is starting to find a more curious side.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you!

Samantha

Answers: See Jan and Linda's answers to this question.

Read columnists' bios and ask your question.

Hi, I am a single mother of 5 adopted children - oldest 24, youngest 5. 3 have left home (but remain in contact daily), and 2 are still home. I also am a foster parent of 5 children (all home). I want you to know that I really look forward to getting your e-mail every week. I read it often and have learned lots, and it has opened my thoughts and heart to all sides of the story. It is so sad to see all the waiting children. Thank-you for a wonderful site. - SH from Canada

My husband was born June 18, 1966 in Columbus, Oh. His adoption was handled by Catholic Services in July, 1966 after a one month stay in the hospital due to low birth weight. Doug was the third adopted child to his family and later a fourth child was adopted. Doug and his siblings have such a loving relationship with their adoptive parents that none of them desire to find their birth parents. I am his wife and have two of his children. I would like to see the resemblance to his birth parents if they could be found. Do I have any rights to find the paternal grandparents? - Yvonne Roeder

My name is Tammy (Evelyn Ann - biological name), and I am 35 years old. I was adopted at the age of 18 months. It was really interesting how this all happened, very unexpected and a blessing. First I want to say that my adopted family was wonderful. I had a wonderful childhood and the only family I knew was awesome. It was 8 years ago when I lost my mom (that raised me) to cancer. I was lucky to be with her during that time and took care of her till the day she passed away. I miss her terribly. She was absolutely wonderful and made me the strong, independent woman that I am today. In August 2003, I received an unexpected phone call that changed my life. My biological aunt was on the other end of the line looking for me (for my bio-mom). We ended up taking advantage of this second chance at being a family and all hooked up. My bio-mom lives in San Antonio and I in Mexia (about 3 1/2 hours away) and Aunt lives in Illinois. My dad (the only dad I have and know) does not know about this, but he is 75 and not in the best of health, so I choose not to tell him. I did however tell my brother who is also adopted. He is fine with it and understands that I have room in my life and heart to have a relationship with my bio-mom. Not only do I have my bio-mom and aunt, but I also have 2 younger half brothers. It has been a year; it is a wonderful thing, although still kinda strange. There are so many good things that have come from this second chance. I have written some poetry that is on Poetry.com under Tammy (Evelyn Ann) Murray McCulloch. - Evelyn (Tam)

As an adopted person, I am so glad that things have changed over the years. In 1978, at the age of 22, I found out that I was adopted. I met my BM, and she was ok. In her lifetime, she gave away 7 children. She kept two, because she was able to get child support. She is a cold-hearted person, and in her old age, she will now feel the alone feelings that we, the "outcasted" children, feel. The biggest heartbreak is the fact that she did not list a father on my birth certificate., because she did not know who the father was. I don't even know if my father knows I am alive. Is there a place I can post my search to see if maybe he is looking for me? Or maybe he might have other children who are? I was born Dec 6, 1956, in Portsmouth, NH. My father was a submarine seaman. He may have been 25-35 years old. That means he was in or around NH in March of 1956. Can you help me? - Jacqueline

I have a son who is 31 years old somewhere. I felt forced to give him up, by family and case worker. I never heard anything about getting help if I kept him. I only heard how much better it would be for him if I gave him up. I have registered in hope that he might try to find me, but no luck so far. My case worker told me a little about the adoptive family (if it was true). But it was like once I signed the paper, she visited me one more time to tell me how much my son is loved, etc, and then I never heard from her again. I think the support system for Bmoms is very sad. Anyway, that was back in 1973; I am not sure how it is now. I often wonder if I am a grandma, or if my son is still alive. How many more women out there felt that their case workers only gave positive information if you gave up your babies, with no offer of help if you kept him/her?. I only pray that my son is happy. He was born in Utah Jan 28, 1973 (just in case). - S.L.

Speak Out - share your opinion, comment, or respond to a message.

Read more adoption poetry, or share your adoption poem.

Chat Schedule:

See this week's scheduled chats.

Adoption Events:

National Adoption Month Conference
November 6 - Grand Rapids, MI
Kids Culture Center - For more information, click here.

The Adoption Journey
November 7 (11:00 am - 5:00 pm) - Grapevine Convention Center, 1209 South Main St. Grapevine, TX
A Mother's Charm, DFW-FRUA, and CPS - For post- and pre-adoptive parents. 60 booths/18 seminar sessions. Topics: domestic, international, older children, special needs, financial, medical, legal, process, support and culture. Adoptive parents with a variety of wisdom and experiences will host a unique set of Q&A booths. For more information, or to register, contact Vicky Pitts or click here.

Mid-West Adoption Conference
November 7 - Palatine, IL
Kids Culture Center - For more information, click here.

Adopting from China - Free Information Meeting
November 13 (10:00 am - 12:00 pm) - Living Grace Lutheran Church, 2566 Briarcliff Rd. N.E., Atlanta, GA
Great Wall China Adoption - Join us as we discuss China's adoption program. Meet families who have returned from China and hear from them, first hand, about their experiences. For more information, or to register, contact Allison Stock or call (404) 486-7625. For a complete listing of Great Wall events, click here.

Adoption Resources Network's 13th Annual Conference
November 13 - Penfield, New York
Kids Culture Center - For more information, click here.

Web Seminar: Media Mania vs. Parent and Products
November 18 (7 pm Eastern, 4 pm Pacific)
As Simple As That - A look at the subtle ways that the media perpetuates stereotypes that hurt our kids and what products to buy that help you vote with your pocketbook! Read more and register.

NYC Adopt 2004
November 20 (11:00 am - 4:00 pm) - New York's Hotel Pennsylvania (Penntop Ballroom - 18th floor)
New York City Administration for Children's Services & the New York State Office of Children and Family Services Speak with adoption experts from over 30 agencies. Learn more about young people who need permanent homes. Attend free workshops to understand how to navigate the process and access available support. Network with adoptive and foster parents. Enjoy games, entertainment, prizes, and refreshments for the entire family. For more information, click here, or call 311 or (212) 676-WISH.

Annual New Hampshire Adoption Conference
November 20 - Southern NJ University, Manchester, NH
Kids Culture Center - For more information, click here.

APC's 24th Annual Adoption Conference
November 21 - Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY
Kids Culture Center - For more information, click here.

To view local listings, regional seminars, many other adoption events, and to list your organization's events, visit adoptioncalendar.com.