My parents were immigrants to America. And now, my kids are too.

There's been a lot of talk recently over immigration laws. A lot of protests in the street over who should be allowed where and under what circumstances.

So, I thought it might be valuable to look over an important chunk of American history, written into law, about the kind of immigrant family mine has become. I'm always surprised when I run into adoptive parents who haven't heard of... more

If you haven't read this blog post yet, you probably should. It's from Harlow's Monkey on renaming in international adoption. I can't remember how I found this - I think it was via Made in Korea - but it seemed to be everywhere. Anyway, the follow-up post (actually, a follow-up to a follow-up)... more

Things what have come to light on this day:

So, there's a lot of hubbub in the mainstream media about the new Batwoman, Kathy Kane, who's apparently just like the old Batwoman, Kathy Kane, except she's had an affair with an ex-police detective who is also a woman. Because, of course, this is much stranger than donning a red-and-yellow bodysuit to go and beat up muggers. Oh, with a utility purse, too. Anyway, that's all well and good, but the Batwoman revamp is being accompanied by a whole "ethnic revamp" of DC and Marvel titles, according to the New York Times (or, well, a blogger quoting... more

Sometimes I feel like a very large librarian who is hosting a very small professional wrestler. Who was bitten by a radioactive termite and keeps trying to eat all my papers. Everyone's papers. Any last scrap of paper. In the mouth it goes.... Well, that and electric cords. Isn't that a rabbit thing, chewing cables?

Anyway, at least we both love books. For different reasons.

The pediatrician was very impressed with his foreskin. I'm not making that up. Because, I'm told, it moves easily. This foreskin was the subject... more

Oh, I just revel in the FEAR OF CHINA.

So, I'm reading latest issue of The Futurist (as I do for work and pleasure). The cover of the May/June 2006 issue has a big picture of a cute baby on it with the headline: Designing Babies: a Eugenics Race with China?

This is a little more interesting (kookier, and more baby-related) than the recent stories in other media about car imports. The history of eugenics is one... more

Three things about the place where I live, ease of adoptions, and the culture of diversity.

Sun-Sentinel reports: No China Consulate for South Florida...Yet.

This one is interesting -- right now, the only Chinese consulates in the U.S. are in Houston, D.C., New York and the two big cities in California. If you remember that MLA map showing where "Chinese-speaking"... more

Trawling around the web today brings on another emotional rollercoaster.

From my colleagues over at the transracial adoption blog comes a link to a great, sunshiny New York Times article (available here if you don't want to register) on the growing... more

Behold, Parade magazine valiantly attempts an apology (in today's "Walter Scott's Personality Parade" Q&A section):

Q: You wrote: "In Hollywood, it's fashionable to adopt infants from the Third World." As the adoptive mother of a beautiful Chinese girl, I believe you owe me an apology. - Diane Laur (no city given) A: We didn't intend to question the sincerity of Americans like you who choose to adopt foreign children. There are countless orphans in the world who deserve to be adopted. We did, however, question the motives of some stars, who appear to use their foreign-born children to attract favorable publicity.

I... more

The other day, My Adjective Spouse was taking our daughter to pre-school, as she does in the mornings. Said daughter being an actively intelligent and scholastic child, she sometimes enjoys a little reading material along with the sippy cup and crackers. And we, having recently attended the local FCC's Chinese New Year celebration, picked up a flyer for the local Chinese language school (youngest students accepted: age 4). It's a green xeroxed sheet with a photo of happy-looking kids doing some kind of group activity on it.

That was our daughter's choice of reading material for the morning. However, I'm told, unlike most... more

Remember the post on Mongolian spots? This is another medical post aimed at non-Asian parents of Asian kids. It's a little more serious. One of the families in my original DTC group* is having a bit of a battle with a rather serious disease called moyamoya.

It's nearly unheard of in the Anglo population, but is only sort of rare among Asians. It's caused by a constriction of arteries leading up to the brain, which trigger a progressive series of strokes. The word "moyamoya" is Japanese for "puff of smoke,"... more