Families are looking abroad to adopt for a variety of reasons, including wanting to help children in disaster zones or out of lives of poverty. But there are fewer children available for international adoption in recent years. We talk about the whys and hows of international adoption -- and about the challenges of fostering a cultural connection between adopted children and their birth homes.
Guests:
E.J. Graff, associate director and senior researcher at The Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University
Janet Shirley, overseas program coordinator for Bay Area Adoption Services
Kathleen Nielsen, Bay Area Adoption Services board member who adopted a child from China
Marguerite Wright, author of "I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla: Raising Healthy Black and Biracial Children in a Race Conscious World" and senior clinical psychologist at the Center for the Vulnerable Child at Oakland Children's Hospital
Tom DiFilipo, president and CEO of the Joint Council on International Children Services, a child advocacy group focusing on international adoptions
As is unfortunately typical, there's no adult adoptee on the panel. I left a comment at the website suggesting that they should add these voices to any discussion of adoption.
Thanks for providing so many great links to adoption in the news and other media, Malinda! I also added a comment on the NPR site asking them to include more adult adoptees in their stories.
ReplyDeleteI'm a new AP and have been doing a lot of reading lately. I discovered your blog a few weeks ago and have been learning a lot from your posts. Thanks!