Redeeming Orphans

1. How many years have you been working in international adoption?
2. Which countries do you work with, and how many placements did you make last year from each? How many years have you been placing children from each of these countries?
3. Are your overseas staff contract employees who work with many agencies, or do they [...]

Always Room for One More from Family First on Vimeo.

1. What is the level of contact, if any, that your birthmothers tend to expect after the adoption?
 Many adoption agencies are gravitating toward leading their birthmothers to expect contact after the adoption (open adoption). If you are not comfortable with this, this question is KEY. Levels of contact can range from: no contact, a yearly [...]

Talitha Piper, daughter of pastor John Piper, gave an encouraging interview at the Nobody 416 blog about being adopted into the Piper family.
__________________________________________________________
“I’m so excited to have a special treat for my readers today! Awhile back I had the privileged to get to know through the world of Twitter, Talitha Piper and later meet her at Desiring God’s [...]

After bringing Bryson home from Ethiopia, we began taking him to church and other outings.  At church I was asked “Is he yours?” and “Are you baby-sitting?”  Yesterday we were at the public library’s story time.  I was sharing with another lady that we were going to the beach for Thanksgiving.  She looked at my [...]

If you haven’t read Part 1, you’ll want to do that first, but otherwise, here is the rest of the Cruver adoption story:
“Yesterday’s post dealt with the crucifixion side of our backstory. In His infinite wisdom, God often leads His children through crucifixion-like experiences—and crucifixion is always dark and terrifying. But because of the crucifixion and [...]

From Jason Young:
“The number one question Stacy and I get is, “Isn’t adoption expensive?  How much did it cost you?”
“A lot,” I reply.
They go on, “How much specifically?”
I say, “A child does not have a price tag.  However, there are adoption costs.  The cost for our international adoption process was $26,000.”
They respond with, “Too expensive.  [...]

Dan Cruver, director of Together for Adoption, has started a series on his family’s adoption story at the T4A blog.  Part 1 is powerful; I had a hard time reading it.  I look forward to seeing how God uses such an awful situation redemptively.
__________________________________________________________

“As I wrote on October 12th, no one adopts a child in a historical [...]

 
HT:  Project Hopeful via twitter

Read USA Today’s article about Villanova basketball player Scottie Reynolds’ adoption and his search for his birth mother here 
HT:  Dan Cruver via twitter

From the Empowered to Connect blog:
“In our ongoing series, Common Questions & Concerns, we address the challenges that parents often face as they help their children transition to their “new world,” learn to trust and development secure attachment:
Question:  We returned home with our child (adopted internationally) about 3 weeks ago. We are finding the adjustment much more [...]

From the Abba Fund blog:
“With the average adoption costing between $20,000 and $30,000 interest-free loans can be helpful but they don’t cover the whole cost. Here are a few creative ideas that other adoptive couples have used and God has provided through to fundraise for their adoption. Feel free to add your own ideas in [...]

Monday was a really fun day.  Our son Bryson was able to meet up with his best friend from the orphanage.  Tarik is a 23 month old beautiful girl.  According to her family she and Bryson were the two “hams” of the orphanage.  They got to see Bryson with Tarik in the orphanage when they [...]

From Bethany’s international blogs:
“A long awaited study on adoption identity formation was recently published by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute.  A New York Times article about the study can be found here.  A full study summary can be found on the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute website by clicking here.  We encourage every adoptive [...]

This article from Bethany’s Taiwan blog gives some helpful information on finding a pediatrician if you have a child adopted from Taiwan.  However,  much of the advice is applicable for any internationally adopted child:
“Finding a good pediatrician during your wait is an important task.  It is the search for a physician to whom you will entrust the health [...]