Search Results for: blog single parent adoption

Coca-Cola Offers Paid Leave for All Parents

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The United States is one of only two countries in the world that does not guarantee paid maternity leave. Fortunately, some companies are stepping in and providing what the federal government has not. Coca-Cola will offer paid leave for all parents. The United States does not provide paid family leave to its workers. There is a U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that applies to employers with 50 or more employees. FMLA offers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during a 12-month period to care for a newborn, adopted or foster child. Coca-Cola’s paid leave policy will take … Continue reading →

Single-Parenting vs. Adoption

Single parenting can come about in a number of ways. Some of us were thrust into it unwillingly as a result of a divorce, others are faced with a difficult decision; single parent or place. I have been on both ends of the single parenting spectrum. I was just out of high school and faced with the most difficult decision of my life. My boyfriend and I had just broken up less than 24 hours before I found myself pregnant. A good friend of mine found herself in a similar situation not long after I did. One of us chose … Continue reading →

Single By Design?

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Is single parenthood hereditary or contagious somehow? It seems to me that once the single parenthood train gets rolling, it’s hard to stop. My father was killed in Vietnam when I was three, so single parenthood was forced on my mother. Now all of my mother’s daughters are single parents. One of my nieces is also a single parent. My brothers are both still married. What does this say about the women in my family? Have we learned by example? It’s been said that we gravitate to what is familiar, is this what is happening to our families? No longer … Continue reading →

Adoption Match Meeting

The adoption process is nothing like you see in the movies, there was no big home where you walked in and pick what child you would like to call your own. The closest comparison I can think of is like when you are trying to buy a house. The family who would like to adopt is asked to create a one page flyer that talks about your family, what your home life is like and what you have to offer a child. When a child comes up for adoption placement that matches the criteria that you have given, they give … Continue reading →

Ban on Gay Adoption Lifted

Last month I wrote about gay and lesbian families not being allowed to adopt. I find this notion to be absolutely absurd. A person’s sexuality does not define his or her parental ability. With so many children in the foster system awaiting a forever home why would anyone deny available homes prior to all the checks that need to be made? We should be encouraging more people to explore domestic adoption as an option. We should be training more loving foster homes. What adults choose to do with their significant others behind closed doors doesn’t seem like it should even … Continue reading →

Deciding to Foster Parent, Part 2

We went through PRIDE training with C.H.I.L.D, Congregations Helping In Love and Devotion. C.H.I.L.D. is a faith-based arm of CPS, and was over a single weekend instead of many weeks. Even though there were many at the informational meeting, there were few at the actual PRIDE training. After PRIDE training we still had to get certified in CPR and water safety. We did both and passed the TB test. Just when we thought our training was over, licensing would be happening soon, and a placement was near, we learned that another training had been added. We had to go through … Continue reading →

Sheryl Crow Welcomes her Second Baby through Adoption

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Sheryl Crow announced this morning that she is adopting a second child, Levi James, who was born April 30. Crow made the announcement via her website, and her publicist confirmed the information. Crow, age 48, adopted her son Wyatt three years ago, when he was two weeks old. (Click here to see Michelle’s blog on Sheryl’s first adoption.) The sibling connection seems to be important to Crow—she made her announcement by writing, “Wyatt has a baby brother!” Crow reportedly is not deterred by the idea of being a single mother. “For my whole life, I had a pretty clear picture … Continue reading →

China Adoption Today

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For several years, Americans have adopted more children from China than from any other country. Agencies recommend China to their clients as having a stable and predictable adoption process. Well, the good news is, it’s still stable and predictable. The bad news is, the time families wait for a referral is now measured in years instead of months. In December 2006, I wrote about China’s imposition of new requirements for adoptive parents. Most notably, these stipulated that singles were no longer eligible to adopt (China had been a popular option with single mothers until that time), and neither were people … Continue reading →

Single Parent Adoptions

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More and more single people, especially women, are choosing to become single parents. One way for a single person to become a parent is through adoption. Adoption.com defines adoption as “a legal process that creates a new, permanent parent-child relationship where one didn’t exist before.” While many adoption agencies still deem married couples as the best candidates for adoption, many do now allow single people adopt. Domestic Adoption Domestic adoptions are adoptions that take place within the adoptive parent’s own country (in the case of this post, this is the United States). A domestic adoption typically costs between $15,000 and … Continue reading →

Bullock Says She Now Can Celebrate Becoming a Mom Through Adoption

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Many adoptive parents try to keep quiet about their adoption plans to avoid endless questions during an uncertain and possibly lengthy waiting period. Sandra Bullock may have set a record by keeping all but the closest friends and family unaware that her new son has been living with her for over three months! Bullock spoke with People magazine last week after keeping silent for weeks following revelations of her husband’s infidelity. She told the magazine that she and her husband Jesse James had been in the process of adopting for several years, and she had always thought that “her” child … Continue reading →