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A previous posts celebrates November being National Adoption Month in the United States. More specifically, National Adoption Day for 2009 is November 21.  What will your family and community do to celebrate?

Child Welfare Information Gateway

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A long awaited study on adoption identity formation was recently published by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute.  A New York Times article about the study can be found here. A full study summary can be found on the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute website by clicking here.  We encourage every adoptive parent to check out this excellent study.  Also, adoption workers are encouraged to study the findings and consider how best to prepare families for the unique issues of identity formation their adopted child will face.  We greatly appreciate the time and effort spent on this wonderful resource.

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Did you know that NOVEMBER is "National Adoption Month" in the United States?

The History of Adoption Month (taken from "NACAC:" North American Council on Adoptable Children) Formalized, time-specific adoption awareness campaigns originated more than 20 years ago. In May 1976, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis issued the first state Adoption Week proclamation, and President Ford then officially proclaimed the week in a letter to the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) conference held later that year. As years went on, Adoption Week came to be observed during the week of Thanksgiving in November.

In 1986, NACAC helped coordinate a national "Calling Out" event based on an idea from Larry Gellerstein, then president of the Adoptive Parent Committee of New York. That year groups across North America braved late November weather and simultaneously assembled on state and provincial capitol steps to read statements about waiting children, and call out the names of waiting children in their state or province.

In 1990, NACAC decided to expand opportunities for raising awareness, and began advertising Adoption Week as National Adoption Awareness Month (November). The idea has quickly caught on, and Adoption Month has celebrated ever since.

In 2005, a Presidential Proclamation of November 19 marked "National Adoption Day" where thousands of children across the United States have their adoption finalized in court!  

CELEBRATE ADOPTION !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As an adoptive family, what can you do to celebrate National Adoption Month?  

-contact your local schools and help them celebrate too!  
-contact your local child care facilities and ask them to celebrate adoption too!
-connect with your employer/HR and start an adoption benefit!
 -start an adoptive family support group in your area!
-plan a community gathering with your local adoptive families support groups!
-write a letter (and send a photo) to your congress person to help encourage their support!
-write a letter to your child's birth/first parents, expressing your emotions!
-write a letter to your child telling them how much you love them!
-work on or look at your child's  Lifebook!
-plan a family outing!
-sponsor an orphan in your child's birth-country
-start an adoption ministry at your church
-have a fundraiser/garage sale/bake-off/silent auction at church... to benefit your child's orphanage/adoption expenses!
-have siblings in the home write about "what adoption means to them"!
-look into culture camps and homeland tours for your family!
-learn something fun about your child's birth-country or birth-culture!
-go out to eat or cook ethnic food!
-make a tradition of having a family photo taken every November... then send it out with Christmas cards!
-write a letter/story to your local newspaper educating about adoption!
-pray for birth/first families, foster families, orphanage caretakers, adoptive families, and orphaned children around the world... that they may celebrate the Blessings of adoption too!

CELEBRATE ADOPTION !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Did you know that Bethany Christian Services' ministry involves more than just adoption? Please visit our Bethany International Services Website.

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Three families traveled to Hong Kong this month to meet their children.  

Children in Hong Kong continue to wait.  Most of the children have significant special needs and are greatly in need of a forever family.  Families who have an approved homestudy and I800a petition are first considered for these children.  If you are open to these special children, please do not hesitate to contact your local branch office.

Posted by Alison M. Adema At 11:39:33 AM Location | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

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Three families welcomed home their beautiful children in June!  What a blessing to witness the creation or expansion of a family!

If you don't already subscribe to Adoptive Families Magazine, click here.  Adoptive Families Top 10 Articles of the Month (as received by email)  features "Raising a Child of Another Race".  Not only is it a good article, but it also includes additional resources for transracial families.  We hope you will check it out!

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As a member organization of JCICS (Joint Council on International Children's Services, BCS would like to share JCICS hosted webinars for prospective adoptive families, adoptive families, adoptees and adoption professionals.  Joint Council has gathered some of the most renowned adoption experts who will present various adoption related topics in a webinar education series.  Click here for a link to the JCICS Webinar series schedule.

Webinars will occur on the first Tuesday and the first Thursday of each month at 7 PM EST for the remainder of 2009.  Registration has begun and participants will gain access through submitting a fee of $10 per webinar. What a great opportunity to hear directly from adoption experts and to pose questions to these experienced professionals.  For more information go to http://www.jcics.org/Webinar.htm.

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One family is in Hong Kong picking up their daughter and two family's dossiers were sent to Hong Kong this week.  Also, one family will travel in mid-June.  

The process after Matching Approval has been running smoothly, despite some changes earlier this year due to the implementation of the Hague.  At Matching Approval, families will file their I800 petition.  The NBC has been taking about 1-2 weeks to approve this petition and cable the provisional approval to the US Consulate in Hong Kong.  After processing at the Consulate, the case is submitted for the "Article 5 letter".  The issuance of the Article 5 has been taking about 7-10 days.  The High Court Order (HCO) can be applied for at the Hong Kong court after the Article 5 letter is obtained.  The court process to obtain the HCO remains about 5-8 weeks, but shortly thereafter families can travel.  We're happy to see this part of the process moving smoothly!!.

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Asian Pacific American Heritage Month is celebrated in May to commemorate the contributions of people of Asian and Pacific Islander descent in the United States. This date was chosen because two important anniversaries occurred during this time: the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants in America on May 7, 1843 and the completion of the transcontinental railroad (by many Chinese laborers) on May 10, 1869.

Check out this website: http://asianpacificheritage.gov/

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Thank you go Bethany's China Team for sharing this post...

This year, Mother's Day is Sunday, May 10th... HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL MOTHER'S AND ALL MOTHER'S-TO-BE!

..... although not officially on the calendar as a holiday, did you know the Saturday before Mother's Day is celebrated among the adoption community as "Birth-Mother's Day?"

A "BirthMother/First Mother" is the name given to a woman who conceives and biologically gives birth to a child who is relinquished or placed for adoption.

The adoption constellation involves many people (extended family, support, etc), but the triad consists of three points.  The three-points of the triad are: the child, the Adoptive Mother (or Adoptive Family) and the BirthMother (or BirthFamily), in no particular order.  Without one of these "points" the triad would not exist.  The relationship among the three sides is inter-related and inter-dependent.  All three sides of the triangle are of equal length.  All three should be celebrated equally!  Many Christians believe that as we are all God's adopted children, this adoption triad metaphor reflects the Trinity of our Father.

What are some ways that we as adoptive families can honor our child's BirthMother?  Internationally adopted children with little to no information about their BirthFamily oftentimes "fantasize" about where they come from and who their BirthFamily is.  In adoptive families that openly discuss the child's birth-country, BirthParents, and birth-culture, the children as adults report having a more positive self-esteem and self-worth.  Some parents encourage their children to write a letter to their BirthMom/BirthDad on these special days or even their own birthdays.  What is most important to remember is that each child has their own feelings about their BirthParents.  As Adoptive Parents, the best we can do is provide a safe and open place for discussion.

Different ways to "honor" or "celebrate" birthparents:
-Light a candle on special days.
-Say a prayer for them.
-Make a special page in the child's Lifebook to celebrate the BirthParent(s).
-Write a letter to your child's BirthParent(s) and put it aside to share with your child later.
-Write a letter/make a card jointly with your child for the BirthParent(s).
-Read age appropriate books together.
-Talk about what the BirthParents may look like.
-Celebrate unique talents that the child may have... and attribute them to the BirthParent(s).

Some adoptive families may not be comfortable talking about the child's BirthFamily or adoption.  Your child will perceive this level of being uncomfortable and may learn to be ashamed or fearful of the discussion.  In order to build a healthy relationship that is based on trust, it is important to be open with your child about their adoption.  If these discussions are open and supported from the beginning, your child will grow to learn that their adoption is celebrated, not hidden.  Your child will be proud to be adopted and will be able to honor their BirthParent's with Thanksgiving!

The book I Wish for You a Beautiful Life (Yeong & Yeong Book Company; ISBN 0-9638472-3-6) is a compilation of letters from Korean BirthMother's to their relinquished children.  Each letter is very unique and provides a glimpse of the different cultures and emotions that this choice has created, related to separation and detachment that a BirthMother may experience and/or express in writing.

As a Mother (whether through birth or adoption) of a child... whether your child is with you, with God, living in oveseas or yet to be born... Bethany Christian Services  wish you a warm and loving "Happy Mother's Day."  We also keep in prayer the BirthMother's that give Life to these precious children and love them enough to want for them, what they cannot provide.  These women too, should be celebrated, honored, and given Thanksgiving.  Their struggles and choices are immeasurable and we may never know them, but we do know them in our hearts.  We pray that they are safe, loved and at Peace.  

*In this Blog Post, we use the term "BirthMother" to refer to the woman who conceived and birthed the child whom was then adopted.  There are other terms such as: "First Mother" or "Biological Mother" or "Genetic Mother" to name a few.  The PC world of language and adoption is sensitive and we mean no offense to any particular term mentioned or not mentioned

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