Way back in January, my colleague Tana over at the LDS Adoption Blog put up an excellent three-part post on the importance of early developmental assessments for adopted children. I bookmarked it when she put it up and kept meaning to get back to it.

Tana lays out in great detail how a good assessment should work, and I wished I had had this information before I embarked on my efforts to have my older... more

If you are at all apprehensive of how a child who has been living in a Russian orphanage will bond with you and your family, I want you to read Susan's March 6 post on her blog "Our Forever Family".

There is always a lot of discussion about bonding issues on adoption chat boards, particularly when the subject of Russia comes up. But these issues were thrown into high relief after November 2005, when psychologists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison released a... more

There was a bit of interesting news out of Canada on Friday. Researchers at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario have developed a simple eye-movement test that can identify children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

FASD is umbrella term that describes a number of problems caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol. Those problems include Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Alcohol-Related Birth Defects, Fetal Alcohol Effects and Alcohol-Related Neurological Disorders. As I noted in my... more

Perhaps nothing generates more hand wringing in discussions of Russian adoption than Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Volumes have been written about it, by folks with far better scientific credentials than me. But it needs to have a place on this blog for information and discussion, and I thought I should start with the basics. So here are five things to know about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome:

1. What is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome? It is a disorder--a range of problems--caused by a birth mother’s drinking during pregnancy. The birth father’s... more

There is a lot of talk about growth this month on Russian adoption blogs and e-mail groups.

On "Bringing Ivan Home" Denise writes about her son's first doctor visit and how much he has grown since coming to America in January. Over at Yahoo!'s Sakhalin Island Adoption Group, Liane, Sue and Bette are celebrating height and weight milestones for kids that remain, nonetheless, smaller than American-born kids their age.

That's... more

Before I traveled to Russia for my first adoption in 1999, my agency had sent me a video of my older son and a large packet of medical information that had been compiled by the baby home. The situation was much the same in 2004, when I got the referral for my younger son, and the medical information was even more detailed. Yes, there were some worrisome details, and I may write more about them sometime, but I had quite a lot to go on. The journalist in me felt very comforted by all the information I had, and the fact that I could evaluate it at length before I accepted the referral.

But now, because of the upheaval in Russian adoptions, a lot of people are traveling blind--no information... more

In Russia, our well-layered children were outside for very short periods during cold weather. I don’t know if they went outside when it snowed, but I know for certain that they didn’t play in the snow.

Bonnie and Clyde are now Alaskans, and snow is now a very big part of their life. They are not thrilled about this, and they vocalize it every time we step outside. In fact, Clyde cries every time snow touches his hands. Not because its cold, just because he hates the snow.

So, a few weeks ago, I decided that the kids needed to learn HOW to pay in the snow. I really felt that every child should play in the snow at least once. Armed with a toy shovel and a bucket, I dressed... more

I was prepared to write a lively, cheerful post about Christmas shopping for Bonnie and Clyde. However, my heart isn’t in it. My mind keeps going back to Russia. I can’t stop thinking about those children who don’t have families. I read this touching post by Suzanne this morning, and it reminded me that we never know what’s going on in the mind of a child. The feeling of security is completely foreign to a child living in an orphanage.

This Christmas, my concern is for the orphans of Russia and their basic needs, such as nutrition and medical care. But the thing that really breaks my heart... more

Yesterday I was at the grocery store with my kids, and the clerk noticed that I spoke Russian to them.

“Are your children from Russia?”

“Yes, they are. They’ve been home for about a month.” I responded, as I scanned my debit card.

“Is it hard to adopt from Russia?”

“Yes.” I said, as she handed me the receipt.

She looked at me as if she expected more. I smiled at her as I gathered up Bonnie and Clyde to exit the store. She smiled back, and started helping the next customer in line.

The truth is that I would have sat down with her and discussed the entire process if she was really interested. But she was just making polite small talk, and... more

Hello, I am a Rhonda, a newbie. Well, I am a newbie at adoption.com. However, I’m not a to the Russian adoption process. We recently brought our son, Clyde (age 2) and our daughter, Bonnie (age 4) home to Alaska from Khabarovsk, Russia. Our kids have been home with us for a month. It is amazing how much our lives have changed in thirty short days! We’ve enjoyed the awesome experience of getting to know our children and seeing the world through their eyes.

I have been trying to find a way to introduce myself that won’t put everyone to sleep. So, I’ve written... more