Open Adoption Roundtable #19

Open Adoption Blogs

The Open Adoption Roundtable is something  I’ve been wanting to become involved with for quite sometime, and this week is the week I’m doing it! Basically, Heather posts a prompt. Then we write.

“Open adoption is about information sharing.” Share your reaction to that statement. How well does it match up with your experience of open adoption? If you disagree, how would you finish the phrase, “Open adoption is about…”?

My reaction to that statement? My reaction to that statement is that the professional sharing it was giving prospective adoptive parents the least-scary, most basic, most general definition of what Open Adoption is. My definitions are a little more involved, and a lot more personal.

Open Adoption is what all the families involved make it.

Open Adoption, today, is my daughter’s paternal grandmother coming over to drop off some things for my son (not bio related to her) because her neighbor is getting rid of some little boy things.

Open Adoption, earlier this week, was talking to Jane about the loss of her oldest son’s uncle. It was looking for and reading his obituary. It was sending a card to his parents, in whose home we’ve celebrated Christmas and birthdays.

Open Adoption is laughing hysterically when a girlfreind has a memory lapse, and tells me that Jr will tall, because my husband and I are tall. It’s laughing, and then it’s consoling her with the fact that we know his genetics include a father and a mother who are similiar in size and stature to us.

Open Adoption is believing that knowing is better than not knowing. You can’t love what/whom you don’t know. You can’t learn and grow with a person if you don’t know them. You can’t let someone learn and grow with your children if you don’t know them.

Interested in seeing what else has been posted on this topic? Check out today’s post at Production, Not Reproduction for more!

Also, I am talking about Open Adoption today at Grown in My Heart. Talk about good timing…..

Grown in My Heart: Blog Carnival

This month the theme at GIMH screams, “It’s summer!!”….it’s a favorite post link up. Simple, right? You’d think.

It took me three days to decide, but I finally did it.

I picked this one because I remember writing it, at the Holiday Inn in Vero Beach, FL. I was on vacation with my mom, aunts & cousin when BgK got the call about MaM’s impending arrival. I spent that vacation in a daze, thinking about the future and a bit nervous.

This is the post that got the whole thing started.

NEWS.

This Saturday, MaM’s having a girls-only gymnastics party. Tuesday, she turns FIVE.

We Are the Truth

By now you’ve probably heard of the horrific story involving a Russian boy being put on a plane and essentially returned to Russia by his adoptive mother. We did a special post about it at Grown in My Heart – want to read the opinions of EIGHT opinionated writers? Here’s the link: http://www.growninmyheart.com/russian-children-and-abandonment-current-news

Today (4/15/10) has been declared “An Adoption Blogger Day” by the Joint Council on International Children Services. It’s a day for families involved with adoption to tell their stories. Stories that talk about the day-to-day. Stories that talk about tough adoption issues. Stories that talk about love. Stories that speak the truth.

So here’s our story:

Almost five years ago we became parents through open, domestic adoption and we’ve never looked back. We’ve never regretted it. We had no idea how much our children would change us for the better. We had no idea how much we would love these children. How much we weren’t living until they arrived.

Oh the love……

A Windy Easter Sunday, 2010

I don’t know that there’s a McLinky for today’s event. But if you’re in the mood for some Adoption Truth, I’d start with the GIMH’s list of 101 best Adoption Blogs. And click here to learn more about We Are The Truth A Campaign and Call to Action EDITED TO ADD: Here’s a link to other We Are the Truth posts.