You have probably heard the term "Hague Convention" tossed around in your discussions of international adoption over the internet, or at least recognize the term from various message boards. Any family adopting internationally should at least be familiar with the principle of the Hague Adoption Convention and what its purpose is.

The Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention)is a multilateral treaty which was approve by 66 nations on May 29, 1993 in The Hague (Netherlands). The Convention covers adoption between participating countries and sets out certain uniform international adoption standards. There are... more

Once you have made the decision to adopt, it is time to start developing a plan for your and/or your spouse's employers. It is never too early to develop a plan for your adoption leave, and many employers will appreciate being kept in the loop.

I realize due to the unpredictable nature of international adoption, and especially Kazakhstan adoptions, it is impossible to give exact dates that you will be gone, especially in the early months of the adoption process.

But what I do suggest is that you inform your employer... more

There is a truly lifechanging story from Missouri posted on the wonderful International Adoption blog. This story is about a little boy from China who was found as an infant with burns covering most of his body. No one ever thought he would survive. A family, who had given up their large nice house, sports car, and law career, to become missionaries in China, adopted him. I really believe I was meant to read this story this morning, and I take it as a sign.

I have been struggling for months now with the question, "how can I do more to support adoption?" We recently... more

About two years ago, in my mind I crowned a woman I only know as "Susan" queen of all things Kazakhstan, and Kazakhstan adoption. If you check out her website, you will see why.

Susan adopted her daughter from Kazakhstan in 1999, really as the internet was just taking off. She was a pioneer on many Kazakhstan forums and message boards, and she took the issues that were being discussed on those boards and forums and created a website to assist parents in researching not... more

I am writing this hoping some of you are nearing travel. I have sadly observed a definite slowdown with the processing of Kazakhstan adoptions since last fall, around the time the new regulations were enacted on November 1, 2005. But in recent days, I have seen a few posts from folks who received their LOI (letter of invitation, the final approval you need to travel), and so now might be a good time to cover emergency contact info while in Kazakhstan.

1. Create a sheet for members of your family, your employer, anyone caring for your child, house, pets, etc. You can use the same paper for all of them. Start with an itinerary, including your flight times, flight numbers, airlines,... more

The United States Department of State issues a yearly summary of Kazakhstan adoption requirements as well as adoption statistics to assist adoptive parents.

I am approached about adopting internationally quite a bit because people assume that because I am an attorney and adoptive parent I must be able to facilitate adoptions. While I can represent a birth mother, adoptive parents, or in some very rare cases, both, in a domestic adoption, and I can do re-adoptions stemming from international adoptions, as I explained in my post about accreditation, I am not a licensed, accredited agency, and so I cannot... more

Well, if you caught the post about starting a life book, and my pipe dreams of starting one for our son, who was adopted oh... about 17 months ago, I happy to report that tonight I took the big leap and got started.

I am not a craft person by nature. I can write, I love to write, but when it comes to coming up with an interesting page layout in a scrapbook, I am lost. It's almost as if there are too many options.

Today I found a great scrapbook line at our local scrapping store that more or less does it for you. You buy the 12 x 12 background paper, frames, embellishments, and it shows you how to lay it out. Now that's what I'm talking about!

All was going well... more

Many people are shocked to learn the Kazakhstan adoption agency they have applied with, signed with, and learned to trust, is not actually accredited to complete adoptions in Kazakhstan. I know we were! Early on in the adoption process, we mistakenly assumed that if an agency had a Kazakhstan program, they must be accredited in Kazakhstan. We were wrong!

A list of agencies accredited in Kazakhstan can be found on the JCICS website.

How then, you ask, can... more

Do you ever have one of those mornings where nothing goes right, and you just want to crawl back in bed? Today was one of those mornings for me, except I have to be in court in an hour, I am out of diapers, and I need to buy a birthday present for a party our son is attending, so out of bed I roll.

Lately we have been seeing some major changes in our son's personality. Don't get me wrong, he can still be as sweet as they come, but I think we have reached the infamous "terrible twos." His answer to any questions, whether it be do you want to go to school or do you want a million dollars, is a whiny "NOOOOO."

I can deal with whineyness. I can even deal with him not listening... more

It's one of those days. Just when you have settled in with the reality of your wait for that special child that will be yours, people inevitably start asking questions. We are all so sensitive to the wait, and it certainly doesn't help when people question us about why things are taking so long, or about our motives to adopt generally, even if their intentions are good. Here are some common questions that irk me, and I assume other prospective adoptive parents, and some suggestions for answers. Let me say first, one absolutely acceptable... more