International adoption
How Can a Foster Parent Discipline a Foster Child
“Discipline: The practice or methods of teaching and enforcing acceptable patterns of behavior,” from Encarta Dictionary: English. Notice the contrast between punishment and discipline. Punishment is a penalty for wrongdoing, whereas discipline is to teach proper behavior. Be assured that a new foster child will arrive with plenty of unacceptable behaviors. So many, that you would be constantly criticizing if you chose to address all of them at once. That is why you start with trying to change one or two of the most unacceptable behaviors. How can a foster parent discipline a foster child to cause the change?
Katie Price and Peter André Adopting
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I had to look up Katie Price and Peter André. I didn't have a clue why there were celebrities. Katie is a "glamour model" and "television personality". Peter is a song writer and "television personality". They are both "reality TV" stars.
Anywho... They saw a documentary, Bulgaria's Abandoned Children, and were emotionally impacted by the need for for special needs parents. They are already special needs parents. Their son has septo-optic dysplasia.
Doesn't Believe in International Adoption
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I love this blog. Kathy is talking about raising and living within a multicultural, transracial family. And she talks about:
A humanitarian worker said he didn’t believe in international adoption because he didn’t believe in taking a person out of her or his culture (of course he meant his or her culture of birth).
I am willing to bet the "humanitarian worker" isn't an American. Americans have a very unique point of view and high social mobility. We move around the country a lot. In my life, I have moved 7 times so far. I have lived poor and middle class.
We might change our religion, cultural and ethical identity. I have lived with no religion and didn't believe in God for a while... then I drifted into agnosticism. Now I attend a Unitarian Universalist church.
And we greatly value individualism. This is a double edged sword. Bill Gates? He was building computers in his garage not too long ago. Now? He is worth somewhere between 50 and 100 billion.
The other side of the coin is that people are held responsible for things they don't control. One of the reasons a woman in a crisis pregnancy is "blamed" is because of this individualist mind set. She had control and should have known better goes the unsaid thought. Or try this one on for size. When you die, you are at fault. You didn't exercise enough. You didn't go to the doctor regularly. I am not the only person to have noticed the postives and negatives of individualism.
Alexis de Tocqueville greatly admired us for these traits. He also found it very interesting that we had tons of NGOs (non-governmental organization). People volunteered and created organizations to solve issues. They don't wait on the government.
Until you have lived in Europe, Asia or Africa, it is difficult to understand just how intrenched some people are in "their place". What your father is... that is what you will be. Born of a wh#re, then you must be a wh#re. In Eastern Europe children will sometimes be diagnosed with hepatitis because of the doctor's personal belief about the mother. The doctor didn't bother with testing the blood.
In other words... Many, many folks still believe in the doctrine of bad blood. The sins of the father are the sins of the son.
Two Adoptions Completed Under the New System in Guatemala
According to the Guatemalan newspaper, Prensa Libre, two children in Guatemala have been legally adopted under the new adoption law of 2007. These are the first two adoptions to be completed under the reigns of the National Council for Adoptions (CNA), the organization that replaced the defunct previous adoption system. Nineteen month old Jose and seven month old Sandra were adopted by a Guatemalan family. To date, the CNA has 58 children who are available for legal adoption and 89 applications from couples, however only ten of the 89 applications have been approved.
The CNA favors domestic adoptions, but a special needs child will be placed with an American family within the next few days. This is encouraging news as many of us truly feared that not one more Guatemalan child would find a home in the U.S. after the CNA took over. Personally I am cautiously optimistic.
However it is impossible to write about Guatemalan adoptions without pointing out that there are still far too many children grandfathered under the old system that are stuck in the adoption process in Guatemala, particularly in the Attorney General’s office (PGN). Additionally, over 1000 adoption cases are still missing the birthmother interviews.
- LisaS's blog
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- Technorati
Adoption Photo Listings: Good or Bad?
People that are new to the adoption community may not know that there is a lot of controversy around adoption photo listings. There are those who are for the adoption photo listings, and those who are against adoption photo listings, the interesting thing is, they both cite the same reason for their viewpoint; exposure.
There are large adoption photo listings, featuring children from all over the country, or all over the world, as well as small adoption photo listings that only feature children from a particular state, or children that a particular agency is sponsoring. Those who are for the adoption photo listings feel that the exposure the children receive on these listings greatly improve their chance
Russia Banned American Adoption Agencies (not related to recent dead child)
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We have another update on the Russian Adopted Child Died In Car situation. As many folks adopting from Russia know... Cradle of Hope and Family and Children's Agency were suspended by Russia on 6/27/08.
This article states they were banned for failing to communicate on the children adopted via their agency.
European Adoption Consultants, who did help the Harrison family adopt, isn't banned. The Russian government is investigating the agency.
Miles Harrison accidently left his son in a hot car last week... and the son died. The almost 2 year old child was adopted from Russia about 3 months ago.
Updated: Russian Adopted Child Died In Car
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Thanks to Jim over on FRUA for pointing out this article; Number of International Agencies Lose Their Russian Adoption Accreditation (in Russian).
I translated it and had google translate it. I am not a professional, so it is possible that I made mistakes.
It sounds like "Coordinators 2 Inc" or "Adoption Coordinators" (based in Virginia) did the home study. The social worker who did the study is actually named in the news article. And "European Adoption Consultants" was the Russian adoption placing agency, who has been suspended by the Russian government.
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Friday, July 11, 2008
This is a tragedy no matter who the child is... adopted, foster or birth. How can people forget their child is in a car?
Miles Harrison (Purcellville Virginia) was arrested on manslaughter charges. He was supposed to drop his son (almost 2 years old) off at day care. Miles forgot Chase (his son), left him in the car... and the boy died.
Chase was adopted from Russia in April 2008... and here we are... 3 months later.
This sucks on so many levels. I wonder how the Russian government is going to respond to this incident.
Ways to Build Your Teenage Foster or Adopted Child’s Self-Esteem
A person who feels capable, respected, and has a sense of self-worth generally has high self-esteem. That is probably the exact opposite of how your new foster or adopted child will feel. I often hear people complain about a newly placed child’s lack of concern about family members, family property, consequences, or discipline. It is difficult, if not impossible to love someone, care about others, or care about personal losses when you do not love yourself, have self-worth, or self-respect. Being the child’s new parent puts you in a position of influence. Your words, time, and interactions with your new foster or adopted child can either build the child’s self-esteem and improve your relationship or destroy it.
- FosterMommy's blog
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- Technorati
A Second TB Test Needed for Children Adopted from Abroad
I came across an important article today that is relevant to all of us that have adopted children from poor countries. Apparently, tuberculosis (TB) is not always detected in the first TB test our children have when we bring them home. Based on a recent study, a second skin test should be administered within three to six months to any child who tested negative the first time.
A group of researcher looked at 527 children who were tested within two months after arriving in the U.S. Of those 527, 111 or 21% tested positive for TB. From the group who tested negative, 203 were retested over three months later; 38 tested positive for the latent form of TB on this second test.
- LisaS's blog
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- Technorati
Violent Rages (adoption dream about Korean Foster Mom)
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What a surreal dream... Mom talks about dreaming. In the dream she means her son's Korean foster mother. And she talks a little bit about her son's rages.
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