Continued from the previous post.

As an example of how the situation at the Guatemalan orphanage, Casa Quiviria, has fueled anti-adoption fire like gas on a barbecue, we've been looking at a blog meant to burn international adoption... more

I doubt that I will ever cease to be amazed at the power of personal spin on topics as contentious as international adoption. One person's negative experience repeated often and widely enough becomes legend-like, and as bandwagons fill more and heavier investment is made by those who've become accustomed to the company on board and have no desire to see the blasted thing run out of gas.

The Casa Quivira mess in Guatemala, of course, goes down like jet fuel, and the bandwagon... more

I am so hoping I wasn't in the minority of news watchers coming close to ralfing my waffles over the brand-new,shiny and spiffy UN Secretary General's visit to Sudan.

Hearing that Ban Ki-moon is "shocked" by the state of the country is about as terrifying ... and shocking ... as it gets in this mess of a world, and when the phrase, "Time is of the essence" popped out of his mouth, I snarfed hot tea up my nose and spent the next ten minutes choking.

Who... more

With accusations of baby-snatching for international adoption abounding, this story out of India may give encourage a bit of perspective on the wider, and more accurate, picture of the reality.

It's the tale of a ten-day-old baby boy, snatched from his parents following a village panchayat order.

Unlike what is far too often assumed in the reflex reaction usually associated... more

Anyone thinking I was angry yesterday with the British publication I now with great justification call a rag, The Sunday Telegraph, ain't seen nothin'.

The indignation over the irresponsible and blatantly manipulative story I expressed in yesterday's blog was fierce, and valid, the letter I wrote to their editors condemning their decision to publish was intended to be scathing, and I am reasonably proud of both the post and the letter.

Today, however, prompts... more

It's annoying, aggravating, frustrating and maddening enough when trashy tabloids and irrelevant hacks hijack international adoption and run it through a contorted wringer designed to crank out Headlines of Eye-Grabbing Horror and column-feet of pulsating pap in attempts to encourage a malignant miasma surrounding every aspect.

It really gets my goat going bonkers (And that's not good!), though, when a publication that presents itself as a bastion of the respectable press jumps on a bandwagon because it happens to be rolling by.

I am well aware... more

A story of how a birth country visit can turn into something life altering for international adoptees and for the children left behind is always inspiring, and this one is no exception.

Ana Dodson was adopted from Peru as an infant and returned for the first time at the age of eleven in the company of her mother, Judi. In addition to everything she took away from the visit in the way of personal experience and fulfillment was a compelling conviction she turned... more

Here's a scenario from today's international news:

A woman is walking down a public street in village with her four-month-old daughter, when suddenly some people come out of nowhere and pounce, attempting to snatch the child. A fight ensues, during which one of the attackers repeatedly shouts, "Get the baby! Get the baby!" The mother manages to ward off the baby snatchers, and thankfully neither she nor her daughter have been injured in the attack. The bad guys run off.

Given today's news climate... more

In a previous post, I was writing again about how dangerous fallout from unaddressed anti-adoption sentiment can be, and how easily it creeps into shouting headlines tainting the whole process as those uninvolved and easily misinformed absorb the message without processing the ramifications.

In black and white, shades of gray may just be too complicated to take into account.

Recently, Guatemalan adoptions have been taking... more

While I was away, there was some flack headed my way in reaction to a blog I posted about an anti-adoption nut a while back, suggesting that perhaps my criticism of some who vociferously oppose everything about adoption and would do just about anything to see an end to the option for all of the world's children has everything to do with keeping the bucks piling in and the attention focused on little old me. (Don't emphasize the old, please.)... more