Search Results for: blog spotlight on african adoptions

Spotlight on African Adoptions

This week I want to specifically focus on adoptions from Africa. Why Africa? Because there are currently 14 million orphans in Africa and by the year 2010 there will be more than 25 million. This one continent holds more than half of the orphans in the world. The purpose of the next few days is to put a spotlight on Africa and the huge need of the orphans there. While the number of children waiting for adoption is very high, the continent of Africa also has a fairly low incidence of adoption. Compared to countries like China, Russia and Guatemala … Continue reading →

Preventing Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV

The World Health Organization is working hard to reduce the number of pregnant mothers around the world who pass HIV on to their unborn children. HIV is not automatically passed from mother to unborn child. This is good news! But there is always a chance that the disease will be transmitted. The main way to prevent transmission is through the use of antiretroviral drugs. What are antiretroviral drugs? These are medications taken to treat infection by retroviruses like HIV… which opens up another question: what are retroviruses? A retrovirus is a virus that inserts itself into a host cell and … Continue reading →

Book Review: There Is No Me Without You

Whether you are interested in adoption, in history, in science, in child welfare or simply in riveting memoirs of children and families, you will find There Is No Me Without You to be a fascinating book. It tells the story of an Ethiopian woman who has taken in children orphaned by AIDS, many of whom were later adopted to Europe and America. There Is No Me Without You is written by Melissa Fay Greene, an award-winning writer and a parent of four children by birth, a child adopted from Bulgaria and several Ethiopian-born children. The book’s main subject, Haregewoin Teferra, … Continue reading →

Responses to the Closing of Countries to Outside Adoption

In a perfect world, parents would be able—emotionally, socially, economically, and in every other way—to raise their children. However, would-be adoptive parents of today should realize that, while steps toward this ideal are being taken, the world is unlikely to run out of need anytime soon. Perhaps the closing of easier and better-known avenues to adoption will spur reforms to make adoption from state foster care systems in the U.S. easier. Perhaps it will spur development of programs to assist people who adopt sibling groups, older children, and children who have suffered abuse. Perhaps it will encourage the adoption of … Continue reading →

Interview: Adopting from Ethiopia and Liberia

Nancy Sanderson, from Champion, New York, is a single mom of 9 adopted children. Five were adopted domestically from American foster care and four from countries in Africa. Nancy took time out of what must be a very busy schedule to answer some questions about her experiences in adopting form Africa. Me: Why did you decide to adopt from Africa? NS: When I decided to pursue an international adoption I was amazed at the price differential and decided that it made the most sense to adopt 2 or 3 or 4 kids from Africa for what it would cost me … Continue reading →

Interview: In Process for Liberia

I love to hear the experiences of people who are involved in the world of adoption. This week I will be interviewing people who are adopting (or who have adopted) from countries in Africa. This interview was with Sue Richardson of Bloomington, MN. Sue and her husband are in the process of adopting a sibling group from Liberia. Me: Please introduce yourself. SR: My name is Sue Richardson, I am married to Scott Richardson. We have been married for 5 years and have a 2 year old daughter named Annie. I am a television news reporter. My husband runs the … Continue reading →