Archive for April, 2010
April 26, 2010 at 11:24 am · Posted by Livia · Filed under Adult Adoptee, Birth/First parents, Guest Blog, Search & Reunion, Talking about Adoption, Transracial Adoption
From Guest Blogger Melissa Konomos visit her at Yoon’s Blur, and click here>> for more information on Adoption Mosaic Bloggers.
I am a Korean-American adoptee who met my biological parents for the first time (last year in June of 2009) since my relinquishment in 1975. Since then, I have officially entered into what is often referred to as “post-reunion.”
Post reunion often receives less attention, I think, in part, because it is less glamorous and less emotionally climactic than the process of search and reunion. Hearing the story of how I searched for seven long years and the details of the first moments of coming face to face with my Omma and my Appa are much more enthralling and riveting. It is this phase of the adoption experience that brings simultaneous tears to our eyes and smiles to our mouths. But the actual reunion is only the beginning of a long, and often arduous and daunting, process. I find it unfortunate that post-reunion is so grossly neglected, because it can often be the stage in the process that can last the longest, can be the most fragile and complicated, and requires long-term support that is often lacking or underdeveloped.
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April 20, 2010 at 10:15 am · Posted by Tara · Filed under Adult Adoptee, Disruption, International Adoption, Media, Race, Russia
The Takeaway (national morning news show) interviews Orlando Modeno, a man who lived through the experience of disruption when he was a child. Hear the interview here>>
If there is a silver lining in Artyom’s disruption tragedy, it is that people in the adoption community, and society at large are now talking seriously about, often ignored, adoption issues – the realities of older adoption, disruption, and adoption reform. Some critical points and interesting discussions are taking place on John Raible’s blog.
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April 15, 2010 at 10:58 am · Posted by Tara · Filed under Disruption, International Adoption, Media, Russia, Talking about Adoption
The adoption world was shocked and horrified when news of Torry-Ann Hanson’s adoption disruption broke earlier this month. Along with her mother, Nancy Hanson, Torry placed 7 year old Russian adoptee, Artyom Savelyev, on a plane to Russia, accompanied by nothing but a note.
I’m hesitant to draw firm conclusions about this situation until more information surfaces. However, for those of you who are following this case, or have just heard about it here. Following are several links with more information.
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April 10, 2010 at 8:53 pm · Posted by Livia · Filed under Adoption Language, Census, Kinship, Talking about Adoption
I was puzzled by the debate over adoption on the census. I couldn’t figure out why some people felt that checking off “adopted child” was demeaning to their child and why they equated this with adoptees being considered “less than.” And then I asked myself this question:
What if the debate over having to check “biological child” or “adopted child” were reversed? What if people were upset about having to check off “biological child” because they thought their biological child might feel differentiated and less than?
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April 3, 2010 at 10:02 pm · Posted by Tara · Filed under Environmentalism
We recently had an interesting conversation on Facebook over this article published on Crucial Minutiae, an environmental blog. It was prompted by an Oregon State research study that reported on the huge environmental impact of bringing a child into the world, and specifically, raising a child in the US. From the abstract: “A person’s reproductive choices must be considered along with his day-to-day activities when assessing his ultimate impact on the global environment.” And from the Crucial Minutiae article: “The average long-term carbon impact of a child born in the U.S. – along with all of its descendants – is more than 160 times the impact of a child born in Bangladesh.”
The question was asked: Is adoption an “environmentally conscious” decision?
What do you think?
