December 3, 2008

Washington March for Down Syndrome 1/22

KIDS (Keep Infants with Down Syndrome) For Immediate Release FAMILES WHO HAVE CHILDREN WITH DOWN SYNDROME TO MARCH TOGETHER IN THE 2009 MARCH FOR LIFE in D.C. TO RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT THE HIGH INCIDENCE OF ABORTING BABIES WITH DOWN SYNDROME     Leticia Velasquez and Eileen Haupt, two mothers who each have a daughter with Down syndrome are organizing a group of families who have children with Down syndrome to march together in the 2009 March for Life in Washington, D.C.  We are calling our endeavor KIDS (Keep Infants with Down Syndrome) to raise awareness about the 90% abortion rate of babies with Down syndrome […]
December 2, 2008

Advent(ures) of the Fuzzy Kind

This weekend we welcomed a new member to the family … a six-week-old Australian Shepherd Christopher named Maddy. (This is the picture that induced Craig and Chris to drive halfway across the state to get her!) Like all babies, Maddy is both a lot of work and a lot of fun. Her blue eyes will turn one day, we’re told. The biggest challenge is persuading her to piddle in the snow at 3 a.m. (I can hardly blame her; I wouldn’t want to plant my delicates in the frost, either.) At 5 a.m., when I get up with her again, I sometimes encourage the process […]
December 2, 2008

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

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 26, 2008

Wee Cook Wednesday: Rose Sunday Tea Cake

In just a few  more days — right after Thanksgiving — we will be entering the season of Advent. These four weeks before Christmas are about more than buying presents and baking cookies … They are about getting our hearts soft and warm with thanksgiving, ready to receive the Newborn King! Every year on the third Sunday of Advent, I host a special tea party at my house for a group of truly extraordinary friends. We met when we were all still single … a dozen years later, three of us are married, and three have become adoptive parents. One hosts an exchange student every year. Each […]
November 24, 2008

Mighty Mom Monday: “We’re in Trouble!”

From Mighty Mom’s mailbag this week…. Two little boys, ages 8 and 10, were excessively mischievous. They were always getting into trouble and their parents knew all about it. If any mischief occurred in their town, the two boys were probably involved. The boys’ mother heard that a preacher in town had been successful in disciplining children, so she asked if he would speak with her boys. The preacher agreed, but he asked to see them individually. So the mother sent the 8 year old first, in the morning, with the older boy to see the preacher in the afternoon. The preacher, a huge man with a booming voice, sat the younger boy down and asked him sternly, “Do you know […]
November 15, 2008

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 […]
November 11, 2008

National Catholic Register: Melinda Selmys response

Yesterday’s posts at Catholic Exchange and Mommy Monsters, as might be expected, produced several heated responses as well as some useful information that I hope to include in future posts. However, there was one bit of information I received today — a letter in NCR from Melinda Selmys (dated 10/5/08) in response to the outrage her original article produced — that I wanted to share here: Response from Melinda Selmys: “I have had several letters from people who were angered by my column. Specifically, they were upset by my discussion of adoption, and by the claim that there is often lack of similarity between an adopted […]