As I've mentioned before on many occasions, I love to travel. When I go to a new country, I always like to talk to people about issues that are most important to me, including adoption.

In Egypt, I met a young man named Ashraf. We kept in touch after my travels, discussing politics, religion and other touchy subjects. I'll never forget the response I got when I told him about the circumstances surrounding the surrender of my son. He listened to my story, and then said, with great emotion, "You Americans are crazy. In my country, the family would work together... more

My own surprise child was also my first-time pregnancy, so in addition to all the adoption-type answers I was trying to collect, one question I constantly asked every mother I knew was “What does labor feel like?”

I wanted to know how painful childbirth was going to be, and what type of pain to expect. If you’re a first time mother, I’m sure you want to know the same.

But no matter how many times I asked, no one ever seemed to be able to adequately express what giving birth feels like. And even though I write for a living, I’m not sure I... more

Yesterday, in my expectant fathers post, I was not able to talk about how the involvement of an expectant father can help when available since my son’s birthfather was not involved in the adoption process.

One of my friends, Leigh, leaned heavily on her child’s birthfather, whom we will call B, during the adoption process. Leigh and B began their relationship in December 2002 and... more

Today was a dark and gloomy day. My mother in law passed away Saturday morning and today was her funeral and burial. We didn’t have the typical mother in law/daughter in law relationship. For the past 3 years, I have helped my husband take care of her. She was a giving woman with a good heart. I’ve lost my Amazing Race buddy – we used to watch it together and pull for the same teams. Already, our house seems emptier. My husband is a Momma’s boy and will miss her greatly.

In the back of the long black family car on the ride from the commentary back to my house, I silently reflected... more

Support after placing a child is so important. I had a pretty supportive family and supportive friends but nothing can replace the support of someone who has actually been there and walked in your shoes – another birthmother. Not long after I entrusted Charlie to his adoptive parents, I realized to make it through this I was going to the need support of someone who really understood what I was thinking and feeling. That is when I began to seek out another birthmother. That is when I found another birthmother, Lani.

This is an exert of an article... more

I’ve been thinking lately about the way having a baby radically changes you.

It doesn’t matter whether you ultimately raise your child or not—you will never be the same person you were before you became a mother.

Looking back on my own pregnancy, I can see that I had the impression that as long as I gave up my son, my life would go back to the way it was before I got pregnant. This is of course not even remotely close to how it actually plays out. In reality, the moment you deliver, you become a new person. You stop looking at the world only through your eyes, and start seeing through your child's as well. The things that were important to you before motherhood (for me,... more

At any given time, most people have a pretty good idea of what their priorities in life are. Going to school, getting a better job, getting married, having kids…all of these rise to the top of our lists depending on where we are in our lives.

It's always a good idea to set priorities, but never more so than when you are facing a crisis pregnancy. Then, there’s no getting around it—you have to make some pretty big calls about what’s most important, and you think you have to make them fast (but this time pressure isn’t always real—more on that in a minute).

If you’re thinking... more

This has been a hard week for me. I am so glad I wrote a few posts ahead of time because it’s been hard enough to drag myself out of bed and be a productive human being, much less, write a post on crisis pregnancy.

At the encouragement of a few of my blogging friends, I thought I’d share a little of my life after adoption with you today. I was determined, after entrusting Charlie to his adoptive parents, to straighten my life out and make Charlie be proud of who I have become. I was not in a good place when I had him. But I have worked hard and gotten my life straightened... more

My name is Coley and I’m proud to be AdoptionBlogs newest blogger.

About 5 years ago, I left the health department, single and pregnant, feeling like a failure for the 2nd time in my life. When I was 19 years old, I became pregnant and forced myself into a loveless marriage because I thought it would be the best thing for my child to have two parents living together. Noah was born in 1996. He had a lot of complications at birth and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and epilepsy. His father and I had married for all the wrong reasons, trying to do what we thought was best for our child and the difficulty of parenting a child with special needs was more strain than our marriage could... more

There's another adoption story in the news, this one about a pair of open adoptions in Iowa. Like most such news reports, it uses personal stories as a departure point to jump off into the topic of adoption in general.

The story, in case you have trouble with the link, is called "Open Adoption Creates Additional Love," by Shawna Richter of The Hawk Eye in Burlington, Iowa.

I have to say, I like the title very much.

As far as the article goes, there are two separate stories recounted. The first... more