A law recently adopted in Butler County, Ohio, gives "traditional" married couples preference over others who are interested in adopting foster-care children.

"The new rule... would not exclude [other people] from adopting, but it clearly states that when all other things are equal, married couples would be given the advantage."

The law has prompted claims that it discriminates against single parents, as well as gay and lesbian couples. Children Services Director Mike Fox responded by saying that studies have shown that children are more likely to succeed if they're raised in a traditional family setting. Source: Cincinnati Enquirer

Labels: couples, parents

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

The sponsor of the bill says it's a common-sense measure to help children of single parents. Focus on the Family says the bill is a back-door effort to legalize adoption by gay couples. Read more online.

Labels: legislation, adoption rights, parents

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Adoptive parent Mark Schneider wrote a tender story for his two children to help introduce to them the concept of adoption in the most loving way possible while avoiding the use of loaded terms. You are invited to read "You Came from My Heart" along with your child, and we thank Mark and his family for allowing us to reprint this story in its entirety. Read more online.

Labels: communication, parents

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

Couples who adopt children spend more time and money on them than biological parents do, according to a new study published in the February 2007 issue of American Sociological Review.

Brian Powell, a sociologist at Indiana University, led a team of researchers who studied 13,000 families with children in first grade. Of that group, 161 were two-parent families had adopted children. They scored high on helping children with homework, being involved in their schools, taking children to religious and cultural activities, reading to them, talking over problems with them, and eating meals together.

At first, the researchers believed that adoptive parents spent more time and money on their children because they were older and wealthier than most biological parents included in their study. However, when they reanalyzed the data with the income levels as a factor, the adoptive parents still scored higher, especially compared to single parent and stepparent families.

Labels: research, parents

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Now that Michael Whitney has raised his two adopted sons, who are grown and off on their own, Michael has taken it upon himself to advocate for children who still need permanent homes. He has become a volunteer spokesman for Children Awaiting Parents.

Children Awaiting Parents recruits foster and adoptive families for children in the United States who have waited the longest to find permanent families. There are more than 120,000 children in America’s foster care system waiting for permanent homes, according to the organization’s Web site. [Source: Seacoast Online]

Whitney and his wife adopted their own sons through Children Awaiting Adoption, after spending thousands of dollars on unfruitful attempts to adopt internationally. Whitney believes so much in the importance of providing homes for kids who have none that’s he’s in the process of adopting two more children through Children Awaiting Parents.

Labels: awareness, parents

Posted By: CRC Health 1 Comment

Regular listeners of National Public Radio (NPR) recognize Scott Simon as the voice of NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” but he’s much more than that. Among other things, he’s an adoptive father who shares his experience in the book Baby, We Were Meant for Each Other.

Simon describes himself as skeptical of transcendence but as taking part in a miracle. "My wife and I," he says, "knew that Elise and Lina were our babies from the moment we received their postage-stamp portraits. Logically, I know that’s not possible. But I also know that’s how my heart, mind and body… reacted to their picture." [Source: Pasadena (CA) Star-News]

Simon also defends international adoptions, which some criticize as robbing children of their cultural identity. While culture and history are important, they are nothing – says Simon – compared to the overwhelming needs of children who will live and die in orphanages unless someone agrees to bring them home.

 

Labels: awareness, parents

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 1 Comment