Search Results for: blog post adoption depression

Stress, Weight Gain and Depression in Adoptive Parents

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“At least you don’t have to deal with the ‘maternity forty’!” chirped a colleague while I waiting for my third child’s arrival from Korea. Adoptive parents frequently hear comments like, “Oh, you’re doing it the easy way”. Now, having had a difficult pregnancy myself, I’m inclined to agree that MY adoption process wasn’t as difficult as my pregnancy. But I was blessed to have had the choice both to conceive and to adopt. Remember that many adoptive parents have been dealing with the grief of infertility. They often feel that their dreams of a family are at the mercy of … Continue reading →

What Will Really Happen to Adoption in China, Post-Quake?

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The Chinese government says it is drafting plans for adoptions of quake orphans, and phones at local Civil Affairs Bureaus are ringing off the hook. One Western newspaper even estimated that there are more Chinese calling about adopting than there are orphans. It remains to be seen what will happen. Do Chinese parents calling about adoption today still see it as offering to foster children, or do they truly understand adoption as making a child a permanent part of your family tree? Perhaps they do. Perhaps the restrictions on bearing children have left more people wanting to love more children … Continue reading →

Book Review: The Post-Adoption Blues

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The Post-Adoption Blues, subtitled “Concerning the Unforeseen Challenges of Adoption”, is written by a husband and wife team. Dr. John R. Thompson, MD, is a child and adolescent psychiatrist. His wife, Dr. Karen Foli, PhD., is a registered nurse and a medical writer who has written extensively about children with special needs. Together they are the parents of two sons by birth and one daughter by adoption. Their daughter arrived from India at the age of five months. Karen Foli experienced many emotions upon meeting her daughter. These included some emotions which she had never expected, such as guilt, confusion, … Continue reading →

Attitudes Regarding State Adoptions: Part 1

The following is a list of attitudes and misconceptions people have about adoption usually prior to their placement. I don’t intend to discourage anyone, but it’s important for families to be realistic in expectation. Children aren’t puppies, they’re children! ~ There is nothing wrong with wanting to adopt and know you are giving your child a good home. It’s okay for you to feel good about what you’re doing. But if you’re going to have the attitude that you are “rescuing” this child, you are doing your family a great injustice. It gives implication to the child that they owe … Continue reading →

Glossary of Special Needs Adoption-Related Terms “P”

Special Needs and Adoption-Related Terms: Adoption terms and special needs words may vary from agency to agency.The terms used in this Special Needs Adoption-Related Glossary may be slightly different from one State to another. A | B | C | D | E-F | G-H-I | J-K-L | M | N-O | P | Q-R | S | T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z Parens patriae: Legal term that defines the State’s legal role as the guardian to protect the interests of children who cannot take care of themselves. For example, in an abuse or neglect case, this concept is used to explain the State’s … Continue reading →

Post Adoption Depression

Post adoption depression, seems like a paradox considering how much effort has gone into the paperwork, home study, waiting, expenses, and stress. After all, wouldn’t the moment of finally holding your baby, or tucking your toddler or child in for bed at night, be one of the most fantastic moments in adoptive parent’s lives? For many new adoptive parents it is, but for some it’s not. Instead, some new adoptive parents experience post adoption depression. The severity of post adoption depression may vary and adoptive parents should seek help if five or more of the symptoms below occur during a … Continue reading →

Celebrity Moms Dish on Future Babies

Actress Brooke Shields is hoping 2009 will be the year her home gets a shot of testosterone. The 43-year-old mom of two young daughters reveals that she and her husband Chris Henchy are planning to adopt a son next year. However, the child star, who became a champion for postpartum depression following the birth of her first daughter five years ago, says she won’t be following in Angelina Jolie’s footsteps. Shields confirms that she won’t be adopting from outside the U.S.: “There are a lot of babies out there in our immediate back yard that need families.” Adoption might be … Continue reading →

Book Review: Annie’s Baby

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Annie’s Baby is a book whose official author is Dr. Beatrice Sparks, an adolescent psychologist who also edited Go Ask Alice. But the book’s real author is “Annie”, an anonymous client of Dr. Sparks, who narrates her story to her diary. As the book begins, Annie is a fairly typical fourteen-year-old—she plays on a soccer team and enjoys rollerblading. She says she’s too much of a tomboy to be one of the “popular girls”, but she has several good friends with whom she likes to go to the movies or the mall. Annie lives with her mom, a teacher. The … Continue reading →

Some Days I Wish I Was Invisible

Sometime ago a prospective adoptive parent wrote to the forums with a concern. She was considering keeping her child’s adoption secret from extended family. She mentioned that she didn’t want them to be always judging how she acted with the child, how she disciplined, whether she was doing the same thing with her adopted child as she had with her biological child. Most of the time I am out in public I react to my kids without thinking about adoption, which is as it should be. Occasionally I wonder afterward what people may be thinking. Today was one of those … Continue reading →

Media Review: Adoptive Families Magazine

Adoptive Families is a comprehensive bimonthly adoption magazine which covers all types of adoption—domestic and international, infant and older child, open, semi-open and confidential, and adopting from foster care. I have found the coverage to be very well-balanced among the different types. In the past two years I have canceled several magazine subscriptions because I don’t have time to read them. Adoptive Families, by contrast, is read cover to cover before I go to bed the day it is delivered. The magazine is written almost entirely by adoptive families. There are sections of advice from experts such as counselors, social … Continue reading →