An Arizona newspaper, the East Valley/Scottsdale Tribune, recently featured an article about several birthmoms from the semi-open and closed adoption systems. Entitled "Honoring Birth Moms," the story looks at adoption from the perspective of three different women, all of whom currently feel positive about their decision to entrust their child to adoption.

While I don't agree with every aspect of how the reporter framed these women's stories (in my opinion, she got a few small details wrong),... more

According to an article in The Cincinnati Post, one birthmother is not just getting mad--she's getting even. The woman, who was impregnated by her priest when she was 16, says she was pressured into giving up her baby for adoption.

Because the incident occurred in 1965, prior rulings had said that the statute of limitations had passed. But now an appeals court has ruled that the lawsuit can proceed.

As the report states:

"Cincinnati attorney... more

Talk about your crisis pregnancy! In the news today is a story about a young woman who gave birth in the Arizona desert and used nail clippers to cut her umbilical cord.

Probably she was attempting to cross the border illegally, but in the end, this is not the important part of the story to me.

Instead, what strikes me is the desperation that leads a new mother to perform terrifying and sometimes heroic acts in order to safely deliver her child. I have heard this sort of thing many times.

In fact, I know a birthmother... more

We’ve been talking a great deal lately about the rights of expectant/biological/natural fathers, and how those rights can often get trampled in the rush to make an adoption happen. Tomorrow, on NPR, the same man who recently helped bring this discussion to the national stage will be on the air, discussing adoption law and fathers. Erik Smith (right) successfully contested his son's adoption in 1993, in a landmark legal case.

In a nutshell:

WHO: Fathers’ rights advocate Erik Smith. Smith, a paralegal from Columbus, Ohio, will be joined by adoption lawyer Mary... more

This news story certainly puts the "crisis" in crisis pregnancy. (Trouble with the link? Search for "The fight for Baby Joseph," by Isaac Bailey of The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, SC).

In this weird chain of events, a young mother gets pregnant, doesn't realize what resources are available to help her, and panics after giving birth (not in a hospital). She doesn't know where to go or where to take her baby. The current trend in "baby dump" laws probably confused the issue in her mind,... more

Here’s what I want to know. Why aren’t there more programs like this one?

(If you have trouble with the link, just search for an article entitled “Swamp Nurse,” by Katherine Boo).

This story, which first appeared in The New Yorker, profiles a social program known as The Nurse-Family Partnership. The program helps low-income, first-time mothers to become better parents by providing them with nurses who mentor them through the first two years of their children's lives.

The... more

A recent New York Times article, “Unwed Fathers Fight for Babies Placed for Adoption by Mothers,” (Tamar Lewin, March 19, 2006) is a must-read piece about the issue of putative father registries, which we've recently discussed in this blog. I’ve provided the link to the Times article here, but will also quote from the piece in my post, below.

The article begins with the story of Jeremiah Jones, who learned that... more

In a closed adoption, you don’t know where your child is or how he or she is doing; you lose all ability to monitor their health and welfare.

There are dozens of reasons to avoid closed adoption and opt for an open one instead, but I’ll talk today about the most terrifying reason of all: the potential for harm to come to your child.

Now, most adoptive parents are good and loving people, who would never dream of harming any child. But in closed adoption, you just don’t know who will be doing the parenting…and you could be one of the unlucky ones.

There are certainly lots of horror stories out there. Probably the most famous is the Lisa Steinberg abuse case. Lisa was... more

Let's count all the things that are wrong with this story, shall we? (If you have trouble with the link, the story is "Mom stranded in Iowa when she vetoes adoption" by Dan Gearino of the Quad-City Times, Sioux City, Iowa.)

Read it? Okay, now let's examine how many ethical abuses it contains.

1. The paying of expenses to pregnant women by potential adoptive parents, facilitators or attorneys is coercive. This arrangement causes a vulnerable pregnant woman to... more

Among those of us who live with adoption on a daily basis, there is sometimes a tendency to judge anyone who ended up choosing another option, such as single parenthood. I suppose that's a normal reaction; if you think you yourself have done the "right" thing, you'd hope that others would also make the same choice. (The opposite is also true. If you have lingering doubts about your choice, you may be even more vocal about insisting it was the right one.)

Personally, I don't agree with judging what anyone does when faced with a crisis pregnancy. I believe adoption is an intensely personal choice, and one that is by no means right for everyone. And I applaud anyone who tackles single... more