It may come as a surprise to those not intimately involved in the world of adoption that there is a significant school of anti-adoptionists. I try to listen to their points of view and gain understanding of their perspectives. Many of these anti-adoption folks are adoptees themselves with some powerful negative life experiences that developed their current stance against adoption.
It's THAT time of year again. Yes, Christmas! The time of year when I scurry around the internet buying gifts for our children that are useful, fun and educational. While also trying to teach them to not be greedy for too many presents. Sometimes I even manage to squeeze in a little bit of Christian education about why Christmas even came to exist, like when Baby Girl really was a baby of eighteen months and just
I am a reader. I always have been. I learned to read before I started JK and loved it so much that often when I was a child, my friends would ring my doorbell to invite me outside to play and I would refuse because I was too engrossed in a book.
So naturally I want my children to be readers as well.
In 2009, I travelled to South Africa, filled with the barely-contained excitement of becoming a mother and meeting my daughter for the first time. What I did not anticipate was returning home with two loves — my daughter, of course — and Mr. Nelson Mandela. Prior to considering adoption in South Africa, I had a general knowledge of who Nelson Mandela was and why he was famous. What I didn't understand until travelling to South Africa was what he meant not only to South Africans, but to freedom fighters, peace activists and everyday humans around the globe.
As November and Adoption Awareness Month fade from our minds and we begin to shift our excited focus towards a holiday season spent with our families, I want to bring your attention to something really heart-stopping:
In Canada, there are nearly 30,000 children available for adoption.
That's 30,000 children with NO permanent family to celebrate their holidays with.
Are you married to, or in a relationship with, your child's other parent? Do you feel you have power in the parenting roles, does your mate have it all, or is it a shared parenting power? In blended families, there is often a distinct loss of power by all parties involved. Stepparents only have as much parenting power as their spouse is willing to grant them. Stepchildren often have very little power over decisions made by their parents.
November is Adoption Awareness Month. So, what does that mean, exactly? I started out writing a post about the different avenues of "Awareness" that even somebody uninvolved with adoption could become a part of: fundraising, education, advocating. However, I think before anyone is even willing to consider one of these options, I'm going to need to sell you on why '"Adoption Awareness" benefits everyone, not just parents via adoption or people who were adopted.
I am a mom. Sometimes that statement surprises me more than anyone else. I first began trying to become a mom in 1999 and quickly realized it wasn’t as easy for me as I worried it was when I was 18.
After four failed fertility treatments, my first marriage dissolved amidst the irony of a natural conception that occurred when our "marital relations" were the last thing to go. Sadly, that pregnancy didn’t survive and I was a single, childless divorcee at age 35.
