What is that baby really saying? A lot of frustration seems to be tied up with language - and what they call "language delays" are all too often a part of parenting kids adopted internationally. Toddlers like to be understood - and when son (son!) uses a new word and realizes that we know what he means, his face lights up.

Of course, babies have their own language, and chances are, if you're an average parent adopting from China, you'll be meeting these new kids when they're really quite new indeed, so what you need right away is some kind of baby translator... more

Our China is a country that we don't understand, like a college roommate who sleeps until sunset and slips back into the room at 10 in the morning. Here's what I mean: This is a critical review of a documentary that aired on British TV last Monday. It was called China’s Stolen Children, and it was made by some of the people who worked on The Dying Rooms. Unsurprisingly, it appears to take a rather stark view of the One-Child Policy. It's also, according to the review, a bit over-simplistic.... more

I've been thinking about this opinion piece I just read in the Salt Lake City Tribune. Actually, it's just a letter to the editor from someone in Utah who's sick of being judged by people who think it's wrong for Americans to adopt babies from overseas. She has a lovely sister from China, and she's sure her family's choices were the right ones, but she's still tired of getting flak from people who don't agree.

Things like this confuse me. I mean, I kinda think the letter writer is correct (I would, wouldn't I?). But I'm not sure about the headline - "Judging solves nothing."

I've gotten used to... more

Here's the second half of an interview with James K., following from the first half over here, in this post.

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Are there lots of Chinese or Asian kids where you live? Do your kids attract a lot of attention for being "different"? There are a number of adopted girls in our town, though they're still a tiny minority. So far we haven't really gotten the idiot questions we expected from the masses on our adoption. Mainly, we just get, "oh, your girl is so pretty!" mainly because she is, in fact, absolutely gorgeous (and that's... more

Rather than continually boring you with stories of my superior family and our superior children, I thought it might be interesting to try interviewing other people who've adopted (or been adopted) from China to get a few different perspectives. James K. lives in Medina, Ohio, and can be read on the web here and seen here.

---- How many children do you have? Two stepchildren, ages 15 (F) and 10 (M), and my daughter, Laurana, who'll be 3 in November.

What made you decide to adopt from China?... more

Rather than continually boring you with stories of my superior family and our superior children, I thought it might be interesting to try interviewing other people who've adopted (or been adopted) from China to get a few different perspectives. Carol S. is a realtor from Atlanta, Georgia.

---- How many children do you have?

I've got two daughters, S., who's 6, and L., who's 2, who're both from Guangdong province.

What made you decide to adopt from China?

I think it was growing up in the 1970s when the big threat was always overpopulation that put the idea in my head that I wanted to adopt when I grew up.

Like a... more

People talk a lot about the conspicuousness of families formed by transracial adoption. There's no way around it - people always notice you. The white dad with the Asian kids. Sidelong glances at the playground. Furrowed brows at the cash register. It's something one has to get used to in this situation, parent and (moreso) child. So how about when the curious gaze comes from a camera wielded by someone who knows how to make an image that lasts longer than the barely noticeable sidelong glance?

The outstanding... more

Not personally - I really mean adoptive parents of whom you might have heard.

I'm not sure you should call them role models, but they're Been-There-Done-That and they're famous.

Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino, who has held every "serious" passing record in the NFL, founded a chain of restaurants and a foundation for autistic children, and who adopted Niki in 1998 and Lia in 2001. He is a hero.... more

A hand-edited manuscript of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth has been recovered and feuding heirs have finally reached an agreement that allows the book to be publicly displayed.

Here's why this matters:

PSBI (Pearl S. Buck International) is the organization behind Welcome... more

NPR is running a series called "Adoption in America" during Morning Edition this week, and yesterday's interview was especially interesting.

It was a profile of Susan Soon-keum Cox, who was adopted from Korea herself in 1956 and is now a vice president of Holt International, which (if you haven't run into the name yet) is a modern adoption colossus.

I can't really do justice to her story in a short summary, so I encourage you to head over to the NPR site to listen to her tell it, or at... more