Adoption-Related Blog Posts

This fall, voters in the state of Arkansas may vote on a ballot initiative to prohibit gay men and lesbians from fostering or adopting children. The ballot measure was proposed by a conservative group called the Arkansas Family Council Action Committee, which collected enough signatures to have the measure placed on the ballot this fall. The proposal will ban all unmarried couples that live together from adopting or fostering children. The state of Arkansas prohibits same-sex marriage and does not recognize same-sex marriages performed where they are legal.

A group called Arkansas Families First is challenging the ballot initiative in court. They will be reviewing the petition signatures submitted by the Arkansas Family Council Action Committee for any that are not valid. Here is an excerpt from the Arkansas Families First website on why they are fighting this ballot measure.

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to mr. mike and michael can you be my foster parent.I just wanted to be a brocaster someday,my parents is cannot spend me to college because of financial dificulties.Im from the philippines,i hope you read this meassage.please help me to fulfiiling my dreams.e-mail me at cielmerbolante@rocketmail.com thanks!!!!

Well only a few days until we board our airplane at 1 in the morning to take a red eye flight to MN to visit with my parter's family over the 4th of July. I am really excited for a vacation, but also always somewhat trepidacious (spelling??). Her family does not accept our relationship and has a very awkward feeling around me. They love the kids and they are glad we visit, but I am just an outsider looking in who never really fits in. I always go on these trips with the perspective that it's for my partner, for our kids, for the family, etc...and I enjoy seeing the midwest.

So my partner has experienced some bleeding today. The Dr. seems to think that this is no big deal, but it has left us a little upset.

We are hoping that everything is ok.

This has been such a long journey for us and we've worked so hard to have anything go wrong.

Please keep your fingers crossed with us.

Thanks.

My parnter and I adopted our son in 2007. Can I just say that we absolutely LOVE being parents! In fact, we love it so much that we plan to adopt again. However, this time we are planning to do things a bit differently.

We made the decision to adopt in April 2006 after considering surrogacy as an option, too. We decided that having children was more important to us than having children that looked like us.

Ok, so as of June 16th gay couples can legally wed in the state of California. I am curious about the response/reaction to this by GLBT families. Are you as parents planning to wed immediately to garner all the equal rights for your family? Are you planning a ceremony or celebration? Are you interested, but not really moving forward? Are you not interested at all?

Let me know your thoughts on the subject. Are you looking to get that legal certificate ASAP?

Oh boy, toddlerhood has arrived. The twins will be 2 next week and all of a sudden we have seen a massive shift in their behavior, or truly, their inability to even realize that they are massivly misbehaving. I had my first real "public" experience this past weekend and I would love some advice from those of you that have gone before me. So, my partner and I head to the Farmers Market in downtown LB on Sunday morning. We get the kids out of the car and they're excited, it's warm and beautiful and they want to see the ocean after we shop.

I just found out that Arizona does not have any explicit laws either banning or allowing second parent adoptions for gay/lesbian couples. When this day comes up, it is going to be a long, expensive battle. Luckily, if I do it in my county (Pima), it is MORE likely to go well than others.

*Pima County (I live in Tucson) is mostly Democratic and liberal; on the other hand, Maricopa County (where Phoenix is located) is mostly Republican and conservative.

It has been excessively long, there is more, and more that transpires between each of my entries. I had not even had the chance to log on and see what is new with those of you who I have had the wonderful chance to be in contact with. So, from the obvious to the not so obvious, in snippet form as per usual.

By Mark K. Updegrove

If you have a struggling teen reader at home there's good news. According to the May 2008 edition of the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy one-on-one tutoring can help. One great way to help your struggling teen is through building his/her vocabulary skills. This can be done at home by teaching some simple root words, prefixes and suffixes. I found the following link that will lead you to a user friendly list: http://www.betterendings.org/homeschool/Words/Root%20Words.htm. Don't overwhelm your child by teaching too many at one time.

Like all parents, GLBT parents like myself want our kids to do well in school. As a literacy specialist I offer free advice to Proud Parents who have questions about reading, writing and school issues in general. Anyone have a question? Ask away!! If you wish, you can go to my link (www.readwellthinkwell.com) and email me. Put ProudParenting in the subject line. I will try to respond to as many emails as I can on this blog. You can also sign up for my free, monthly education newsletter.

I have a lot to catch up on in the blog world and things that are worth note but perhaps the most important is the one I am currently dealing with. Introducing the subject of death and dying with kids traumatized by loss. My mother, who has been ill for years and has been hospitalized and operated on more in the last decade than anyone I know. Each time you hold your breath and hope all works out and you never give up the hope that there is fight left. I really thought after a kidney transplant things would be different. Well things are different but still not good.