Adoption - Life on the Road Less Traveled

January 9, 2009

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Adoption

Weekend Ponderings: Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Our children were baptized on May 31, 2005. We waited three long years to do it, and the waiting had not been easy. Especially in the first few months, I was tempted more than once to toss them both in the baptismal font in sheer frustration. It was ironic that it was while we were in church that I felt the need for grace most strongly the first weeks we had the kids. Baptizing them right away wasn’t an option; as their foster parents, we couldn’t even get their hair cut without the permission of a social worker. So each week I’d trot them up for a blessing when I […]

January 8, 2009

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20/20 Russian Adoption Special: Carrie Craft Follows Up with the Mulligans

Today I received this link to Carrie Craft’s interview with Mike and Tanya Mulligan, who adopted three special needs children from Russia. Their adoption experiences were featured on an hour-long 20/20 special that drew a strong response (Tanya says it was 80% positive, despite the obvious difficulties the family was having). If you are considering international adoption, please take some time to read this!

December 19, 2008

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No More Snowflakes: On “Dignitatis Personae”

From “Dignitatis Personae” (“On the Dignity of Persons”), published by CDF on the 20th anniversary of “Donum Vitae” in order to address certain questions pertaining to reproductive technologies and the dignity of the human person from conception to natural death. Paragraph 13 addresses the parameters of options available to married couples who want to become parents: “[T]echniques aimed at removing obstacles to natural fertilization, as for example, hormonal treatments for infertility, surgery for endometriosis, unblocking of fallopian tubes or their surgical repair, are licit. All these techniques may be considered authentic treatments because, once the problem causing the infertility has been resolved, the married couple is able […]

December 5, 2008

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An Adoptive Mother’s Story: Guest Post from Mighty Mom

Editor’s Note: I was about ten when my mother led my Brownie troop on a trail-marking expedition in High Point State Park (NJ). Nearly twenty of us, along with three adults, divided into three groups: One to mark the trail, one to follow it, and one to clear away the markings as they followed the second group. My mother led the first group along the path, on what was supposed to be a two-hour hike; we were to wind up back at the parked cars that held our post-hike refreshments. Instead, Mom took a wrong turn, and led our troop several miles up the Appalachian Trail (which […]

December 5, 2008

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Adoption

Heidi on “Catholic Moments” podcast

Today Lisa posted our interview at Catholic Moments … here’s the link! Please add Lisa to your prayer list … she was recently diagnosed with cancer (see prayer requests on right).

December 4, 2008

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Sneak Preview: An Adoption Story

NOTE: I am making edits on an article on Catholic Exchange, which I hope will run next week. In the meantime, I thought it prudent to offer a bit more information on my own background, as well as clarify my position on some aspects of the “front end” of adoption. I also wanted to take this opportunity to direct my regular readers to an important resource for women in crisis pregnancies and those considering open adoption, a book entitled “Because I Loved You,” which I have reviewed at the end of this article. I would like to thank Patricia Dischler and others who have taken time to help me “fill in the […]

December 2, 2008

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The Legal History of Adoption in the U.S.

“Kippa Herring” has posted several comments regarding the research of Professor Elizabeth Samuels, who published her overview of the legal history of adoption in the U.S. in the Rutgers Law Review ( Winter 2001), entitled “The Idea of Adoption.” Rather than print selected quotes from Samuel’s work, I’ve decided to refer you to the article so you can read it in its entirety. Although Professor Samuels (like Kippa) is in favor of mandated open records (as opposed to the “mutual consent” approach advocated by the National Council for Adoption and myself), Samuels’ paper is helpful in providing a historical context for understanding the complexities of the issue, and […]

December 2, 2008

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Adoption “Unnatural”?

Hey, Al … Where’s Heidi? If you got my newsletter today, and tuned in to “Kresta in the Afternoon” wondering where I am … tune in again on Thursday! We’ll be having a lively discussion about EMN and adoption at 3:00 EST. Don’t have Catholic radio in your neighborhood? Just listen in by computer by clicking here! This afternoon I was also on Lisa Hendey’s “Catholic Moments” podcast. Right after the podcast, Lisa was leaving to attend the funeral of an eighteen-year-old boy, Russell, who was in a skateboarding accident last year, and finally succumbed to his injuries. Please pray for the soul of this young […]

November 15, 2008

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John Paul II and National Adoption Month!

“Adopting children, regarding and treating them as one’s own children, means recognizing that the relationship between parents and children is not measured only by genetic standards. Procreative love is first and foremost a gift of self. There is a form of ‘procreation’ which occurs through acceptance, concern and devotion. The resulting relationship is so intimate and enduring that it is in no way inferior to one based on a biological connection. When this is also juridically protected, as it is in adoption, in a family united by the stable bond of marriage, it assures the child that peaceful atmosphere and that paternal and maternal love […]