Questions are often raised over the fact that you must be married, and married for at least a year before the courts will allow you to adopt your stepchild. Many families dislike this rule, and want to know why it is that the law will not allow for the significant other of a custodial parent to adopt the child when the only thing missing from the family is the legal piece of paper that states that the adults are legally married. There are two stories in the news, sent my way by Julia ,that can help to answer this question.

Two small children, each four years old, were killed recently, not by strangers... more

If the Family Foundation has its way, there will be fewer opportunities for stepparent adoptions in Virginia. Not because they are against stepparent adoption, but because they are not all that fond of divorce and wish to pass new, strict laws to help preserve marriages, making it more difficult for couples to say “I don’t.”

A conservative organization, which believes that marriage is a union between one man and one woman, has already successfully campaigned against same sex marriage in Virginia, ... more

The popular television show on NBC has a main story line which is centered on adoption. The daughter in the story line, Claire, who can heal herself from any wound, or physical injury, was adopted by the family she has been raised in, for as long as she can remember. While the show has kept it secret until just recently as to how she came into her family, and exactly who it is her father works for, ergo the good guys, or the bad guys, one message came through loud and clear for me on this past week's episode.

While the show airs... more

I recently read an article online about a new study, published in the American Sociological Review, claiming that adoptive parents spend more time with their children, as well as more money on them than biological parents.

One of the reasons adoptive parents invest more is that they really want children, and they go to extraordinary means to have them," Indiana University sociologist Brian Powell, one... more

What should have been a routine visitation with his father, turned into a nightmare for a Missouri mother, whose child was kidnapped by the father some sixteen months ago. While the father, Felipe Monroy, had visitation rights to his child, he did not have any custodial rights. After picking his child up for a visit, he went on the run, never bringing the little boy back home to his mother.

The child was recently found quite a distance away from his home in Missouri, he was found in Hyattsville,... more

Today the Dr. Phil show featured a woman who claimed that her daughter had been abducted by her father nineteen years ago, when she was only eight months old. The woman claimed that the father had come to the house, and tried to grab both daughters, the oldest daughter was able to get away, but the baby was helpless to stop him. The cops did not step in because both parents shared joint custody of the children, so he having his daughter was not seen as a threat or illegal, even with the claim that the baby had been... more

I am reposting this as a reminder that this is airing this evening in just a few moments!

In a previous post I wrote about the CBS special A Home For The Holidays, airing on a different date and time. One of my fellow adoption.com bloggers, Erin, from the transracial adoption blog, pointed out that the information in my post was from an older CBS special, and not the one for this year! Thank you Erin for point out my error, so that I... more

The National Center for Adoption Law & Policy seeks to improve the law, policies, and practices associated with child protection and adoption systems. Every day we work towards realizing the goal that all children -- especially those who have been abused or neglected or are dependent on the state for their care -- have safe, healthy, permanent homes. Our primary tools in this regard are education, advocacy, and research.

Our research efforts seek to demonstrate the methods by which foster care and adoption processes can... more

CBS will be airing a special celebrating adoption, with the fifth annual A Home For The Holidays. Continuing with tradition, the special will tell of moving stories about adoption, in the hopes of raising awareness of not only the important social issue of adoption, but to raise awareness of the more than half-a-million children whom are currently waiting in foster care for their forever families. Stars such as Jamie Foxx, and Rene Russo will be among many who will be presenting uplifting and inspirational stories about adoption.

Musical... more

The Freddie Mac Foundation will be hosting an Adoption Expo on Saturday December 2, 2006 from noon to four. This expo will be held in the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington D.C. The expo will be showcasing over 40 adoption agencies in the Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C. areas.

Intended for both those who are interested in adoption as well as those whom have already adopted the expo will be featuring workshops on a multitude of aspects of adoption, including but not limited to; workshops for prospective adoptive... more