Tag Archives: abandonment

Who Has Jurisdiction in the Abandonment of the Russian Boy?

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My last blog concerned last month’s news about the adopted boy flown back to Russia alone. Some commentators have speculated whether abandonment charges would be brought in the U.S., which does allow unaccompanied minors to fly, or in Russia, where he landed. Also, the jurisdiction where the child was abandoned may be Tennessee, where the adoptive mother and grandmother reside, or possibly Washington D.C., since the child’s grandmother flew with him there and then put him on the nonstop flight to Russia alone. Children adopted from Russia to the U.S. are citizens of both Russia and the United States of … Continue reading →

Adoption in the Little House TV Series, Season Seven

My last blogs have talked about adoption storylines in “Little House on the Prairie”, the 1970s TV series that still airs in reruns several times a day. You can access the first blog in the series by clicking here. In season seven’s “Silent Cry”, a couple considers adopting two brothers, but they are concerned that the younger son’s refusal to speak means more than they can handle, so the orphanage agrees to allow only the older one to be adopted. The two boys run away to the School for the Blind which the Ingalls’ friends and family run. Their new … Continue reading →

Nebraska Safe Haven Law Now Applies Only to Newborns

Nebraska state legislators have changed the state’s “safe haven” law, which allowed a parent to leave a child with a hospital employee without fear of facing charges, to apply only to infants in the first month of life. Last spring, Nebraska became the last U.S. state to enact a safe haven law. These laws are intended to prevent frightened new parents from abandoning the baby in an unsafe place or from hiding and possibly killing the baby. In 49 states, the law specifies the age of the infants the law applies to. In some states the law applies to newborns … Continue reading →

Borderline Personality Disorder: Hope for Kerri

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We looked at the day-to-day problems of living with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and focused on the lifestyle of Kerri, a vivacious yet erratic 39-year-old woman who lived life on a knife’s edge. You can read the first part of Kerri’s story by clicking on the link below. Kerri experienced periods of relative emotional stability but the periods of normality were always tenuous and could easily be displaced whenever an event occurred that threatened Kerri’s emotional security. She feared being abandoned, yet sought love in the wrong places. She was unreliable, both personally and in her work, and therefore put … Continue reading →

Talking About Tough Issues: Abandonment

Some adoptive parents are very distressed to learn that their child was abandoned. They believe that this means the birthmother did not love the child. It is certainly difficult to think of a beloved child left alone, but remember that when it is the only option, abandonment does not have the negative connotations it has in this country. In the case of international adoption, often a country does not have a formal system for placing children for adoption. In these countries “abandonment” does not imply that the child was found in a dumpster. “Abandoned” babies in these countries are usually … Continue reading →

Reassuring a Child After Divorce

I will never forget when my own parents divorced. My mom and dad had been married for 36 years when my mom left. I was 15 at the time and I distinctively remember feeling as if it were my entire fault. After all, it seemed that in the months leading up to her leaving, I heard them fighting – about me. I realize now as an adult that they were not actually fighting about me but over me. Regardless, many children, even those without fighting parents, go through a phase where they feel guilty, as if they had some kind … Continue reading →

Do You Know What a Safe Haven Is?

On September 1, 1999, Texas House Bill 3423 went into effect and it was the first law of its kind. The law was called a Safe Haven law and it allowed “parent or other person who is entitled to possess a child 30 days old or younger” to voluntarily leave that child in the possession of an emergency care provider. They would be legally immune to prosecution provided that they did not endanger the child during the delivery. Since that time, 45 states have followed. These and other laws like them were to protect the children that were abandoned as … Continue reading →

My Spouse Hits Me – Can a Wife Abuse Her Husband?

Continue a rather downer of a theme from earlier today, I wanted to talk about spousal abuse. The most common form of spousal abuse involves a husband abusing a wife. However, a wife can abuse her husband and while this isn’t the most typical of cases, it can happen. How Can A Wife Abuse Her Husband? Abuse comes in many different forms. There’s emotional, mental and physical abuse. Women, who abuse, are more likely to use emotional and mental abuse tactics rather than physical, though they can also be physically abusive. Emotional abuse can begin as a form of emotional … Continue reading →