Issues to do with children and adoption around the world range from the widely different to basically the same, as although cultural differences abound, we are at the base of it all humans.

For example, this story out of the UK illustrates how children of ethnic minorities there wait longer for placement in adoptive families ... up to three times longer ... and there are worries that placing children of color with white families can leave them "without a sense of cultural and religious identity later in life."

Perhaps repeating attempts at racial placement parameters in the US in response to a 1972 policy put forth by the National Association of Black Social Workers that insisted that, "... black children belong, physically, psychologically, and culturally in black families in order that they receive the total sense of themselves and develop a sound projection of their future", the system in Britain now tries to make cultural and racial matches between parents and children.

Some feel strongly that racial and ethnic identities are too important to ignore when adding children to families. Others, like Dr. Elizabeth Bartolet suggest that such emphasis condemns children to lives without a chance of family at all.

And so that debate continues.

Another UK story familiar to American families is this one about separately adopted Chinese twins reuniting.

Against what would seem tremendous odds, adoptive parents are finding siblings, often twins, of their Chinese-born children at a rate that feels astonishing to any who are following the incidents.

Today's British tale unfolds much like others, with parents coming across photos posted by other parents on groups where interests are common that knock them sideways with similarities to their own children.

How families chose to handle everything from processing the information to the process of getting whatever information they chose to persue differs from story to story, but I've yet to hear of one that didn't turn out with the biological siblings experiencing some profound feelings.

The group Siblings Far, set up for parents of internationally adopted children who have found a bio sib or twin has loads of information on the subject.

And if you have connections with China, or simply an interest, this article with bits from an interview with Xinran, author of "The Good Women of China", "Sky Burial", and "What the Chinese Don't Eat", is a fascinating read.

In addition to writing some great books, she has a wonderful organization anyone touched by adoption from China should spend sometime looking into. The Mother's Bridge of Love is all about connections and reaching out to Chinese children all over the world, adopted Chinese kids especially, and helping them sift the soil of their homeland together with those of children still there.

We are reaching out to Chinese children in all corners of the world: those who have been raised abroad, those who have been adopted by Western families, and those living in China, often in destitute conditions. MBL is also striving to introduce an authentic China to the West as well as disseminate information about adopted Chinese children’s lives and the lives of overseas Chinese in the West to people in China. By creating a bridge of understanding between China and the West and between adoptive culture and birth culture, MBL ultimately wants to help bridge the huge poverty gap, which still exists in many parts of China.

Stories from adoptive moms about trying to help their children "find their root in Chinese tradition and culture", the Families Exchange that connects adopted kids with special friends in China through photos and letters, and even visits, stories and interactive games teaching a bit of everyday Chinese and folklore, and much more can be found on the site.

It's a small world, and getting smaller.

On racial issues in adoption, see Erin's Transracial Blog, and for more on China, check out Grant's China Adopt Blog.