I'm suffering from some serious Internet problems at the moment, so my blogging time is stressful and limited. Here are some bits of news you can use, though.

Ethica: An Independent Voice for Ethical Adoptions had appointed a new executive director.

The board of directors of Ethica, Inc., a national organization committed to ethical adoptions, is pleased to announce the appointment of Linh Song, MSW, as the organization's new executive director.

"We searched for a leader who could effectively advocate for better standards and practices in the adoption community," said Trish Maskew, Ethica's board president. "Ms. Song has the vision, commitment, and skills to guide our mission and will be a tremendous asset to our organization. She is a welcome addition to the Ethica team and we look forward to her leadership in advocating for improved foster care and adoption practices."

Song joins Ethica with a background in social work and nonprofit administration within theVietnamese-American and adoption communities. Most recently, she founded and served as executive director of the Mam Non Organization, a group providing post-adoption support for families that have adopted Vietnamese children. She holds a B.A. and M.S.W. from the University of Michigan, and is a Rockefeller Fellow at the Joiner Center for War and Social Consequences. Her career has been dedicated to social justice issues such as equal access to health care for underprivileged Asian-Americans, humanitarian work, research on the experiences of Vietnamese birthmothers, and the fostering of positive racial identities and cultural awareness within the transracial adoption community.

Congratulations to Ms. Song, and to Ethica for bringing her on board.

Here's an abstract from a study by the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry on early adolescent outcomes for institutionally-deprived and non-deprived adoptees. It makes for heavy reading that basically says that attachment issues are a handicap that comes from institutional rearing.

Gee! Can we see a show of hands on how many here knew that?

Here's another look at the same sort of thing, but this time studying kids from China.

They're looking back to medieval times in Italy for solutions to problems of abandoned infants. The Family Affairs Minister there want to see a modern-day version of the ancient "foundling wheel" installed in every hospital in the country. The first of these was used in Rome in 1198 and continued in action until Mussolini officially abolished them in 1923 ... 725 years with, and only 84 without before making a comeback. That's something to think about.

Medieval foundling wheels were wooden cylinders set in the wall of a convent or church. The baby was placed in the cylinder from the outside and the cylinder was turned toward the inside, where nuns would care for the baby and seek new parents.

These "safe haven" steps raise quite a controversy in other countries, with many adult adoptees livid over making it easy to leave a child with no history. Others see the alternative being dumpsters and such.

Interestingly, Italians adopted three times as many children internationally last year as those from within their own country.

Continued ...