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

Since I've been talking about bio sibs in different international adoptive families being reunited because parents in often widely scattered locations have noticed resemblances strong enough to prompt investigation, I feel I should mention that looks... more

Having adopted through the same agency, one Florida mother and I had occasion to often view photos of each other's children. As Sam grew, she and I came to the same conclusion: our sons look very much alike. Hers is sixteen months older and was cared for in a another Cambodian orphanage on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. Neither family has any information whatsoever on birth families, so following back trails to see if there are shared roots is not possible.

What would be possible is DNA testing, although the results are usually unimpressive,... more

Continued from here ...

Most people are familiar with the Jewish population in North Africa, the Sephardic and Mizrahi, often called "Black Jews", and remember when many, mainly Ethiopian Jews, emigrated to Israel some years ago. Those represented just a fraction of the population, however. Ethiopian North Shewa Zionist Organization was founded... more

Mo's Saint Patrick's Day blog post about being Irish and Korean just happened to coincide with a discussion on one of the groups I visit about an article on a adoptee born in China and her bat mitzvah ... one Twice the Rice was apparently not impressed with ... putting me to pondering the Waring Blender of international adoption, and the concoction it contains. ... more

An article out of Germany focuses on some of the 100,000 people born to German mothers and Allied soldier fathers during the decade that followed the end of WWII ... the 'occupation babies' ... and the efforts of some to establish a connection with the paternal side of the family. With little history and often not even much of a name, folks well into their 50s are using whatever means they can in hopes of tracking down parents that don't even... more

Cambodian history is extremely rich, and not like that of any other country. From grand to gruesome, from cultural birth to mass death, there is nothing average or commonplace about its past. The temples at Ankor Wat are testament to a culture as ancient and venerable as that of the Aztecs and the basis for much of what is now considered Thai. Toul Sleng, the Genocide Museum, illustrates far too graphically the modern history of the country.

Given... more

Turns out there's no turning back. Decisions are about deciding, and other than somehow arranging to inhabit parallel universes simultaneously ... a handy little trick, unfortunately not physically possible, that would allow each potential path to be followed to its conclusion ... the choices made are the ones we live with.

At seventeen, getting married ... that choice seemed the lesser of four evils ... took me off the path I'd planned (college, Peace Corps, grad school,... more