By Mirah Riben Lorraine Dusky is an accomplished journalist and author. She has made a career of writing, a career which led her to meeting the father of her daughter. It is also a career which contributed to her feeling the need to hide the shame of her “out of wedlock” 1960s pregnancy and then to hide the evidence born of that illicit affair by placing her daughter for adoption….
By Cassi By this time, it’s very few who haven’t gotten more than their fair share of the pictures that have gone viral. Pictures that show the story of a desperate couple and their desire to adopt a newborn. Pictures that show their joy, their happiness at claiming the child they so desired. Pictures that, conveniently, leave out the mother of this child. The one who went through nine months…
By Mirah Riben In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future. Alex Haley I am not a fan, in general, of adoption memoirs perhaps because I have read too may. Most are elongated, detailed blog posts. Split at the Root: a memoir of love and lost identity stands head and shoulders above the run-of-the-mill adoption memoir. If Oprah was still on their air,…
By Cassi So . . . there are many reasons why I have been so neglectful here on my blog. One of the greatest ones is I’m finally giving myself permission to concentrate on my other writing without feeling guilty for doing so. I can still help. I can still support pregnant mothers in need. I can still be an advocate for adoption reform and adoptee rights. But it’s okay,…
By Lori Holden On a recent open adoption advice post, the term “tummy mummy” came up in the comments section. I admit, there was a day when I would have embraced that phrase as a term of endearment for the then-unknown women who would make me a mom. And I will also say that neither of those women … Continue reading Tummy Mummy: What’s Your Opinion on the Title? →…
By Mirah Riben “Our nation was founded on a bedrock principle, that we are all created equal. The project of each generation is to bridge the meaning of those founding words with the realities of changing times. A never ending quest to insure those words ring true for every single American. Progress on this journey often comes in small increments. …. “This morning the Supreme Court … reaffirmed that all…
By Mirah Riben In December 2014 I reported on the Guatemala kidnapping of Anyeli Liseth Hernández and her US adoption by Timothy and Jennifer Monahan of Liberty Missouri who named the child Karen Abigail. Susana Luarca, aka Susana María de la Asunción Luarca Saracho who was charged with criminal association, human trafficking, and the use of forged documents in 2013, was recently sentenced to 18 years in a Guatemalan prison…
By Mirah Riben “In this day and age, there is no reason why there should be restrictions on an adoptee having access to their original birth certificate.” David Weprin, New York State Assemblymember representing Queens 24th Assembly District. A New York bill allowing adults who were adopted as children to obtain access to their original birth certificates, was “destroyed” by members of the NY State Assembly before it passed by…
By Susie I’ve seen this before. From a speech given at the first American Adoption Congress in Washington, DC. It’s not that I agree with every word that makes it hit home especially hard. It’s the date that this speech was given. May 4, 1979 Just four days before Christopher was born. Just four days. Four Days I had no idea… I was not indifferent. My son was NOT…
By Mirah Riben “I feel like a stolen heart from a corpse, trapped in a foreign body.” Sunny Jo “This is not something that gets better over time. Because as you get older, as you live, you learn more and more about what’s been taken away from you. And you learn more and more about the enormity of what’s been stolen.” Cameron Horn “I feel like a ghost, invisible to…
By Laura Marie Scoggins When I received my original birth certificate from Ohio, one of the first things I did was show it to my adopted mom. We ended up having one of the best conversations about my adoption that we’ve ever had in my entire life. It was a healing conversation. It was like the whole thing coming full circle. The conversation made me realize a few things. 1….
By Mirah Riben Be kind to your web footed friends, For that duck may be somebody’s mother She lives in a hole in a swamp Where the weather is always damp My thoughts and prayers this Mother’s Day 2015 are for all the mothers, including those who do not always – or ever – get thanked, remembered or even thought of and those for whom the day holds sad reminders….
By Mirah Riben Adoptive families have been commemorating the day they acquired their adopted children with an annual celebration since at least 2005 when it was suggested in Margaret Schwartz’s book The Pumpkin Patch. The celebration and its name have been the subject of controversy since its inception. Very recently, adoptive father and poet Patrick Hicks wrote “Gotcha Day is a beginning — this is undeniably true —…
By Susie While wasting time on Facebook the other night, I kept seeing a link that several different friends had posted about a Teleflora commercial that had left them in tears. It left me in tears too. But for reasons unlike my friends. Especially during this month of May, that includes not only Mother’s Day, but also Christopher’s birthday. What a kick in the gut. This wonderful son, grown up…
By Laura Marie Scoggins Many adoptee bloggers begin by telling their own story. Maybe they are in the process of searching and chronicle unfolding events. Sometimes they are like me and begin writing the story years after the reunion has unfolded. My biggest advice to someone going through the search and reunion process is to start a journal and record everything. It doesn’t have to be a public blog, but…