As I've mentioned, we're planning a trip to Cambodia in August. We travel long distances often, so don't feel compelled to engrave our trip in stone way in advance. There's plenty of time to book tickets and accommodation, and we trust that where we end up staying is where we were meant to be and that timing will work out just as it should.

Such a cavalier attitude, however, did not stop me from sitting up straighter and paying great attention when ... more

As with every sort of journey, at some point someone had to take the first step, and like in human migrations from Africa toward the Russian Steppes, then across the Bering Straights to North America and eventually the corner nearest you, the international adoption journey has pioneers, as well.

Sometimes, it's familiarity with a certain country that instigates investigation into adoption where no program has yet been tried or tested. In other circumstances, it's an awareness of tremendous need that prompts a family... more

With Jan Baker taking the time to laud adoptive parents and their contributions toward the betterment of adoption in the world on her recent blog, I'm inspired to expand on the topic a bit today in support of her tribute.

Coming across this story... more

It's not been long since I felt compelled to address a poorly composed bit of tripe from anti-adoption swill-tosser and Origins co-founder Mirah (aka Marsha) Riben.

The last time, she was slinging words that accused international adoptive parents of being racists and perpetrators of "cultural genocide".

(For a look at this from an cultural anthropologists view, ... more

The first section of the interview with Kari Grady Grossman, author of "Bones That Float, A Story of Adopting Cambodia is here. The second part is here.

SHB: Project 20 years ahead ... what will life be like for the average... more

The first section of the interview with Kari Grady Grossman, author of "Bones That Float, A Story of Adopting Cambodia is here.

SHB: Are there any actions people can take to encourage the reopening of Cambodian adoptions for Americans?

KGG:

My understanding is that this is now in the hands of the Cambodian... more

I've mentioned and reviewed Kari Grady Grossman's book "Bones That Float, A Story of Adopting Cambodia", and recently had the opportunity to interview the author in the course of an international blog book tour.

As this was coming about, a story broke from Cambodia... more

Of the 407 Cambodian children adopted by Americans in 2001, the 405 in 2000, and the fewer since ... leaving almost 5 million kids under 14 in the country in whatever circumstance life presented ... there may very well have been a child that, left in Cambodia, may have contributed to the good of the people, the culture and the country.

It's impossible to predict how any one person's life may end up impacting the world, and it could... more

It must be acknowledged that the numbers of children adopted from one country, then raised in another nowhere approach a percentage of any country's population of children, or of orphans for that matter, that could register as statistically significant, much less enough to be held responsible for any sort of cultural genocide.

It can be argued, however, that a country's loss of even one of its children could be responsible for a sequence... more

My recent post on cultural genocide which illustrated a classic example... the Chagossian islanders being removed from their homes to make way for the American military base on Diego Garcia ... leads in to this one through the often-suggested thought that international adoption is in essence the same sort of thing.

Rather than blast away widely at the picture of children taken from countries to join families in others, I'd like to focus... more