Some stories repeat on you like last week's chicken tikka masala. No matter how many times the things get regurgitated, someone is swallowing it all over again even though there most likely was nothing of substance there in the first place and the whole mess has grown progressively more unappetizing.

Occasionally, however, it is the illusive conjecture of deja vu all over again that prompts an unpleasant comeback, and that appears to be what we have here.

Back... more

With Rebecca, Erin and Mary all writing recently about adoption travel, this story out of the UK on "The 25 Most Bizarre Travel Insurance Claims Ever" seemed appropriate blog fodder for the day.

Anyone who has traveled far or often or both... more

I don't know if it's because I'm an international adoptive parent who has suffered the agony of the wait, because I write about adoption every day so am constantly aware of how many people are at any given time somewhere in the process experiencing the anxiety, because I have traveled a lot and now live in a developing nation, because I'm worrier in general, or because studying history has left me with a deep well of fear, but the ... more

I have written about the Certificate of Citizenship (C of C) some parents opt to procure for their internationally adopted children, and the debate continues over the importance of having such a document.

The cost to obtain a C of C jumped considerably at the end of last month, and many parents feel it's overkill with a passport being considered to be more than enough proof that their child has the full rights of a citizen of the United States of America.

A... more

I've been collecting some bits of related news from Africa lately, and a Saturday like this one seems a good time to pass along some of them to those of you who might be interested in happenings on the continent.

For a look at some big and positive changes on the way in the world of aid to Africa, please see this on the Africa Adoption Blog

Another story with a positive spin is one from Nigeria ... more

An article from the Boston Globe and Mail called "CULTURAL IDENTITY: LOST IN TRANSLATION Unearthing the roots of adoption" takes a look at internationally adopted kids of color adopted into American families and how some, now adults, feel about their lives, and how awareness may be helping future adoptees.

Although there are complaints about the present climate of trendiness in international adoption tied to some highly... more

Families traveling avec kids, singular or plural, for adoption or vacation ... Mary, for example... might want to take a gander at this column on kids on planes.

Seems the writer mentioned previously that she prefers the company of children over that of adults during air travel, and that earned her more than 1,600 responses, many disagreeing with her take.

Here's... more

I have no idea what is going on, if the cosmos is trying to tell me something or get me to tell someone else, but almost every time I've gone online the past couple of days, stories about Moldova have presented themselves before me; not just Moldova as a country, but Moldova as a country with orphans and people who adopt them.

Even yesterday's... more

Any look at Africa adoptions can be complicated, as this story from Nigeria proves. With international Africa adoptions all being country-specific, a lack of understanding of just how things work can cause a world of problems. In all aspects of adoption, educating yourself is the first and most important step, and trying to do adopt without going through every single on of the steps can lead to heartache.

A Nigerian-born, Canadian citizen adopted a Nigerian child, and is now... more

An early, warm wet season is being blamed for one of the worst outbreaks of Dengue Fever to hit Cambodia and the rest of SE Asia in recent history.

A British adoptive father, along with other volunteers, set up a UK Registered Charity, The Cambodia Children's... more