The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has partnered with The Advertising Council and AdoptUsKids to launch a new adoption media campaign. The campaign's goal is to raise awareness about the thousands of teenagers currently in foster care that are available for adoption.

"This new multimedia campaign, created pro bono by Kirshenbaum bond & partners, is designed to communicate to prospective parents that 'You don't have to be perfect to be a perfect parent. There are thousands of teens in foster care who would love to put up with you.' The new television, radio, print, and [online public service announcements] portray everyday situations and use humor to help prospective parents realize they have the ability to be great parents..."

The campaign is a continuation of a very successful campaign run in 2002 with a similar tag line. Public Service Announcements will direct people to the AdoptUsKids website for more information. Source: PR Newswire

Labels: ads, encouragement

Denis and Paula Pitman first met Emily when, at age five months, she came to live with them as a foster child. Three years later, her biological mother gave up her parental rights, and Emily was sent to live with her biological father.

"The father took her from the Pitmans'... home to northwestern Montana, but within days, he called the Pitmans because Emily was upset and wanted to come home. For three months late in 2007, the girl was passed back and forth between the families, with the Pitmans driving more than 700 miles round-trip to collect her each time her biological father asked for help."

Then, on New Year's Eve, Emily's biological father died of a drug overdose. There was red tape to cut through, but eventually the court approved the Pitmans as Emily's adoptive parents. Emily now calls Paula Pitman her "forever mommy." Source: Montana Standard

Labels: foster_care, parental_rights

Telling a child that he or she is adopted has often been portrayed as a difficult, even ominous, task. But Dr. James Dobson believes that celebrating the adoption, even when the child is very young, helps set a different tone.

Celebrate two birthdays with equal gusto each year: the anniversary of her birth, and the anniversary of the day she became your daughter... This is the point: The child's interpretation of the adoptive event is almost totally dependent on the manner in which it is conveyed during the early years.

By celebrating the adoption, you're teaching your child that adoption is a joyous event and a tremendous blessing. It will set the tone not only for the adopted child, but for friends and siblings as well. Source: Sun-Herald (MS)

Labels: celebration, joy, pride

When kids learn that they're adopted, they can ask some difficult and potentially awkward questions.

What's the best way for a parent to respond? A former professor of pediatrics advised telling the child his biological parents are dead -- but Dr. James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, strongly disagrees.

I am unwilling to lie to my child about anything. I would not tell him that his natural parents were dead if that were not true. Sooner or later, he will learn that he has been misled, which could undermine our relationship and bring the entire adoption story under suspicion.

Most experts advise telling the child as much as you feel he needs to know - or as much as you think he can handle - but don't lie. And turn the conversation away from the reasons his biological parents gave him up, and focus instead on how grateful you are to have him. Source: Sun Herald (Biloxi, MS)

Labels: adopted_childrens, honesty, questions

By the age of 16, Deidre had lived with three foster care families, two of which considered adopting her. Neither adoption worked out, and when the second fell through, Deidre said, she closed off her emotions to avoid being hurt again.

"Unknown to her, however, the Hills had spotted her on an ongoing... television news feature, 'A Gift of Love,' in October 2006. The segment prompted them to search the Internet, where they located Deidre on the Heart Gallery website."

Two years later, with the adoption complete, Deidre is helping other members of her Kiwanis Club to create an adoption exhibit in conjunction with "Why Not Me?," a Texas campaign to raise awareness about the adoption needs of older foster care children. Source: Longview (TX) News-Journal

Labels: awareness, foster_families

When Dulcie and John Becker headed to Columbia to finalize the adoption of their five-month-old son, they expected to be gone for a few days. Instead, they've been out of the country for nearly seven weeks.

"The Beckers have been keeping friends and family updated by a website, as they've waited for the end of a 44-day-long Columbian court workers' strike that has prevented them from getting the judge's signature they need to bring [their son] home to Minnetonka."

Dozens of families are in the same situation, waiting first for the strike to end and then for the courts to catch up on a backlog of cases. Strikes aren't unusual in Columbia - but they typically last only a few days. Now that the strike is over, the Beckers and families who are in similar situations are hoping for swift returns to the United States. Source: KARE 11 News (MN)

Labels: international

Another teenager was left at a Nebraska hospital recently, bringing the number of children abandoned under the state's "Safe Haven" law to 24. None of the children have been newborns, and three have been from out of state.

"When lawmakers tackle the issue at a special session on Nov.14, they will find no national consensus on what the age limit should be... Speaker of the legislature, state Sen. Mike Flood, a Republican, said he will introduce a bill establishing a 3-day-old age limit, but the legislature could change that."

There is currently no national standard for Safe Haven law age limits. The laws are created to provide a way for parents to leave a child they can't care for at a hospital, police department, or fire station. According the laws in most states, parents relinquish all rights, and the child becomes immediately available for adoption. Source: Associated Press

Labels: laws, safe-haven, teens