Another Picture and Some Adoption Resources

Here is our most recent picture of baby William. A family, traveling to adopt their daughter, was kind enough to take this picture for us. It looks like he has graduated to one of the bigger bassinets. Look at the baby behind him trying to peak over the side of his or her basinet. It looks like they wanted to be in the picture, too!

We have been meaning to include some adoption resources for anyone interested in learning more about adoption. We have obviously been doing a lot of reading on the subject in the last year. We subscribed to Adoptive Families magazine which has wonderful articles on all sorts of adoption issues. They also have information available free of charge on their website: www.adoptivefamilies.com. Another good website is www.tapestrybooks.com. It has a catalog of adoption books for adults and children.

We were given two books that we really like. Why I Chose You: 100 Reasons Why Adopting You Made Us a Family has pictures of adoptive families and reasons why familes choose to adopt. The other book is I Love You Like Crazy Cakes by Rose Lewis and describes the story of a mother going to China to adopt her daughter.

We both enjoyed reading Secret Thoughts of an Adoptive Mother by Jana Wolff. This was written by a woman who adopted her son through a domestic, open adoption. She was very candid about her thoughts and fears throughout the adoption process. While her situation is quite different from ours, we could still relate to a lot of the emotions that she went through during the adoption process.

Angela found The Complete Idiot's Guide to Adoption by Chris Adamec to be helpful, especially during the first half of our adoption process. It breaks down the process of adoption and gives tips to families contemplating adoption or going through it. It also explains adoption lingo and offers politically correct alternatives for some rather politically incorrect terms often associated with adoption.

Here are some examples of terms that we have already encountered in the last year, along with our suggestions for alternatives:

Gave a baby up for adoption --> Placed a baby through adoption
Put a baby up for adoption --> Chose an adoption plan for their baby
Real parents --> Birth parents
Natural mother or father --> Birth mother or father
Children of our own --> Biological children
Foreign adoption --> International adoption
Adoptive parents --> Parents

While we're on the topic of etiquette, let's discuss one of our pet peeves. American society considers it rude to ask about a person's salary or how much they paid for a car or a house. Why should the adoption of a child be any less personal? It is like asking how much our child costs. Who can put a dollar amount on their child? If you know someone who is adopting a child, then you might think twice before asking how much it costs.