After growing up with seven siblings who were adopted into the family and one sibling who was biologically connected to my parents, I recognize that society places a higher value on children born biologically than those who are adopted. “I want to adopt, but I’m going to have biological kids first.” Have you heard anyone […]
Families come in all forms. We’re just trying to live our lives and the question you might have considered innocent can sting us and our children. My two youngest kids are adopted from China, which makes them…well, Chinese. My husband and I are Caucasian, so you get a little more at-a-glance insight into our family […]
Some families are all about big, noisy, happy Gotcha Day celebrations. Other families view this day as a time to reflect upon the loss of the birth family and not a reason for cupcakes and balloons. I remember the day I met my son for the first time as if it was yesterday, instead of […]
You know you’re an adoptive parent if you dread school assignments that involve the “family tree.” My brother is adopted. Three of my cousins are adopted. It was a normal part of “how you got kids” when I was growing up. I got married at the tender age of 42 and the fertility ship had […]
With every fuck this and fucking that, the power of the word began to fall away, piece by fucking piece. I grew up in a wash-your-mouth-out-with-soap-if-any-word-harsher-than-heck-slipped-out-of-it kind of family. Descriptive, intelligent vocabulary still appeals to me more than four-letter expletives. But the two boys my partner Kim and I adopted from the Oregon foster care […]
I expected adoption to add to the number of people who lived in my house but it’s been much more. It’s changed every nuance of my life and turned things upside down and sideways. I’ve been on what I like to call the adoption crazy train since 2011, when we first decided to adopt our son […]
The kids you’re talking about? The ones standing right next to me, paying attention to the question? They are my own. Why shouldn’t I speak up and politely make the distinction? I really, really try not to get wrapped around semantics when people make thoughtless remarks about our adoptions or when they ask a question that maybe […]
After 18 surgical procedures in 30 months, we learned the Unknown had delivered to us the rarest of rare birds to raise and love, one who still sings but softer than before. I handed over my car keys to my daughter the day after she passed her driver’s test with a score of 89. Her […]
The idea of an open adoption can be scary because the false security of anonymity disappears. But we can’t imagine doing it any other way. Near midnight on Tuesday, September 9, our adopted son, Stryder, entered the world. Many people have misconceptions about adoption. Because most parents can’t imagine giving their child to someone else, they assume […]
