Mediterranean Diet Wins Glowing Reviews

It seems as if people are always looking for the perfect diet. But, it often alludes us. We either feel deprived of food or don’t want to eat what we can have. Worse yet, there are the diets that just don’t work! For years, I have been hearing good things about the Mediterranean diet. This is the diet primarily followed by people that live in the southern regions of Italy, Greece, and Spain. It includes a lot of fruit and vegetables along with olive oil, legumes, unrefined cereals, fish, dairy, meat (but not red), and yes, even wine. The diet … Continue reading →

Adoption Options for Single Parents: A Newborn?

Can a single parent adopt a newborn without going through the foster care system? Yes. Domestic adoption of infants is usually open or semi-open. In these adoptions, the birthmother chooses the family she would like to parent her child (from parents who have completed a homestudy). Some birthmothers do want a two-parent family for their child, so single parents may wait longer to be chosen. However, some birthmothers have been very open to single parents. In these cases the birthparents and adoptive parent negotiate how much openness they are comfortable with. The birthparent and adoptive parent often meet before the … Continue reading →

The Fight for Isaiah

We were well on our way to adopting our oldest four boys in early July, 2004. We had the goodbye visit with their birth mother just before Christmas, so we had not seen her in over six months. Caleb was 18 months old and for some funny reason, we had started saying things like we had lost our baby. We had even told our adoption agency and the state that we might be willing to take another child. It was not so much an intention as it was our attitude. One morning, the phone rang and Nancy answered it. She … Continue reading →

Types of Adoption Part One: Domestic Infant Adoption

There are three main types of adoption: domestic U.S. infant adoption, adoption from foster care/state welfare agencies, and international adoption. Domestic infant adoptions, in many states, may occur in one of two ways: through an adoption agency, or privately arranged by a lawyer. One element these adoptions usually share is that the birthparent(s) have some say in who will parent their child. Many also include some degree of “openness”—that is, birth and adoptive parents have some information about each other, identifying or not, and usually plan for some form of ongoing contact, whether directly or through letters relayed by an … Continue reading →

Gotcha Day #1

“Gotcha Day” is the name in the adoption community for the day that the child came into the home. It corresponds to the birthday of a natural child. It is a day celebrated by many adoptive homes and a time for great rejoicing. My wife and I were with a realtor looking for a new home, a larger home to accommodate young children. My wife’s cell phone rang and it was our adoption social worker who informed us that we had a baby, a boy named Caleb. He was a month old and was being cared for in a shelter. … Continue reading →

Private Domestic Adoption

I spend a lot of time on a number of adoption forums and there is one situation that has come up enough that I thought it warranted discussion. The question is usually along these lines: “A friend of mine called me because she knows we are interested in adopting. Apparently her niece is pregnant and wants to make an adoption plan for the baby. We have talked and she wants us to adopt her baby. How do we proceed from here?” What this person wants to do would be classified as a Private Domestic Adoption. Basically, they are going to … Continue reading →