As if a person who has become intimately involved with China (as adoptive parents and parents-to-be do), the drums are continuing to rise in volume somewhere in the background. "Is China preparing for war with the U.S.?" the articles ask (and more often than not, the answer is yes - and, in fact, in the case of the one behind that link, the war has already started, just not with guns).

This,... more

Faithful readers of this space will recall the tragic plight of the baiji, the Yangtze River dolphin, that isn't around any more to complain about the noise and bustle of modern industrial China. Before adopting son (son!) last year, we took a river cruise. It was gorgeous, memorable, gave an unforgettable perspective on ... more

By now, you may have heard about the Russian government's latest goofy idea: Let's celebrate conception day!

It's funny, you see, because people are being told by the government to take a day off work and have sex. In order to make more babies, because this lack of... more

So, you're going to China, and you want to learn something about the place while you're there - you want to get a sense of this country that's become part of your family's story.

There are hundreds of large, impressive historical sites. They're in all the books. But you... what you really need is something genuine and different. Something memorable.

One of the things with this international adoption lark - the actual process, rather than the raising-of-beloved-monsters comes afterward - is that an awful lot always seems to depend on luck. Where do babies come from? They come from all over - America, Vietnam, China - and the rules governing the transaction (because, among many other things, it is a transaction) are never exactly fixed. SARS... more

Going to Chengdu this month? Say "Hi" to Neil Gaiman at the 2007 International SF/Fantasy Conference.

Chengdu is a familiar city to those of us in the international adoption community, since it's home to lots of kids at... more

We like Yao Ming because he's cool. He pokes holes in stereotypes about small, subtle Chinese people by being big and in-your-face and famous. And, incidentally, because he's made China's AIDS orphans a reality for people around the world, when many prominent, influential folks are quite happy to forget they exist.

... more

When adopting a child from China, you enter a relationship with the Chinese government. Not just the country and the culture, but the whole system - at least temporarily, but if you're planning on returning in the future to show your child from where she (or he!) came, then for however long it takes. This makes some prospective parents uneasy.

Perhaps you'll rest easier knowing that ... more

You like the internet, right? (Otherwise, how did you get here??)

Here are three sites I've found to be useful:

Trendy, trendy Facebook has quite ... more

Sometimes, with an intentional family like ours, one wonders what would have happened if we hadn't met. If the Magic Stapler in the referral room had attached someone else's photograph to our dossier.

This isn't necessarily a healthy thing to be wondering, but sometimes you can't help it.

See, I was reading about kids in China. Time had a (somewhat manipulative) story about the "disposable athletes" of China's Olympic... more