100,000 Served

Sitemeter tells me that we've reached 100,169 hits.  Small beans for some, but I'm excited!  Thanks to all who read and comment, and who share about the blog.  FYI, if you look at the top left of the page, you'll see a button that says SHARE -- if you click it, you can easily share blog content on twitter or facebook.

One hundred thousand thanks to each one of you!

Adoption in the New Yorker

Two pieces from the New Yorker to point you to -- first, the Last Baby Lift, a piece by writer/adoptive parent John Seabrook about his recent adoption from Haiti.  The link is to the abstract;  the full article is only available to subscribers. Second, a provocative blog post by the same author, the Dilemmas of International Adoption:

I want to say a few things about the debate over international adoption . . . . It’s an unsatisfying debate, not because the issues aren’t important—they’re enormous—but because both sides are often less than frank about their interests. The people who support international adoption—and many of the most vocal supporters are adoptive parents themselves—are rarely upfront about the sometimes dubious, and often tragic circumstances by which children become available for adoption. It is, for example, a more or less open secret that people who adopt from former Soviet satellites are often asked to turn up with a suitcase full of cash in order to claim their baby. Even when the transaction is above board, it is still a transaction; wealthy, powerful people are getting children from poor, powerless people—it never happens the other way around. There’s a tendency in adoption literature to frame the event as a blessing, even as a miracle, but, of course, it only looks that way from one side. Adoption advocates need to do a better job of representing the other side.

Although no one will go on record saying they oppose international adoption, a lot of organizations are contributing indirectly to its demise, by pursuing policies that make it much harder to adopt from abroad. Sometimes these policies are pursued by children’s welfare organizations such as UNICEF and Save the Children, whose primary goal is to end child trafficking. That goal would be easier to achieve if international adoption didn’t exist. No one says that, either: instead they talk about promoting domestic adoption within the nations that send children. But the institution of adoption is nowhere near as well established in most countries around the world as it is in the U.S. and Europe, and the adoption of special-needs children, and children of other races, is even rarer. So, in practical terms, what you get is children spending much longer periods in orphanages and foster homes, where conditions are often inadequate, and sometimes abusive.

Reactions?  You can hear more from Seabrook in this podcast, and on Wednesday in a live chat (to which you can submit advance questions).

"Beware of Mother's Day"

Trauma Tuesday, a regular feature at Adoption Under One Roof, reminds us to Beware of Mother's Day, which might be a triggering event for adopted and/or fostered children:

If you are parenting a foster or adopted child, be wary of the approach of Mother’s Day. While Mother’s Day is celebrated by millions of people, it is time of sadness and mourning for those of us who were betrayed by our mothers. In some cases (like mine), the mother was the abuser. In other cases, the mother was neglectful (such as being too strung out on drugs to care for the child) or an accomplice (such as turning a blind eye while her boyfriend rapes the child). If your foster or adopted child has baggage from the actions or inactions of his or her birth mother, then Mother’s Day is likely to be triggering for your child.

* * *

The approach of Mother’s Day can trigger all sorts of feelings inside of the foster or adopted child that she does not even recognize. She might just feel “out of sorts” but have no idea why. She might find herself sleeping all the time or unable to sleep at night. She might cry a lot, be irritable, or just feel numb. All of these reactions are normal

Even without abuse and neglect, even with infant adoption, there is the trauma of that loss of first mothers.  My kids' first mothers are particularly on their minds right now, even (or especially) as they are busily making me Mother's Day presents at school.  Zoe has been weepy for the past few days, and tells me she wants to "bust out crying" about her birth mother this week (I reminded her it was ok to cry, but she says she doesn't want to cry at school in front of people who don't know about her birth mother).  I think this is an especially important time to be checking in with our kids to see how they are processing birth mother issues and letting them know we are there any time they need to talk.

Scott Simon's New Book -- Excerpt

Click here to see an illustrated exerpt from Scott Simon's book about his adoptions from China, Baby, We Were Meant for Each Other: In Praise of Adoption.  The book isn't out yet, and I'm not sure I'd recommend it based on the title (you know my position on "meant to be!").  But anyone who has adopted from China is likely to see themselves and their child in this excerpt illustrated with family photos of that always-memorable first meeting.

AdoptionTalk on Facebook

I've started something new -- a facebook page for AdoptionTalk!  I hope it will make it easier for folks to follow the blog, and I hope it will be quite interactive -- so easy to make a comment there. You can also introduce topics you want the group to talk about!

I see it as sort of "quick and dirty" blogging.  I can throw up a link or a thought or a question without much effort, sometimes things I'll blog about in more depth later and sometimes things I'd probably never do a full blog post on. And I expect I'll get lots of great ideas from you that I can blog about -- a lovely symbiotic relationship!

So join AdoptionTalk on facebook and share your thoughts on adoption, birthparents, abandonment, race, adoptive parenting, China. etc.!

China Adoption, Birth Parent Searches, Corruption Conversations

Adoptive Families magazine has a number of interesting articles this month, including a look back and forward at China adoption (p. 35).  If you've been following China adoption even a little bit, nothing in the article will surprise you.  Kay Ann Johnson, author of Wanting a Daughter, Needing a Son, is frequently quoted in the article, but if you read O Solo Mama's interview with her, nothing there will surprise you, either. AF doesn't put all articles from its current issues on its website, so you'll have to get the hard copy, or wait a couple of years!

There were two side bars to the article that I found particularly interesting.  One, titled the Birthparent Riddle (p. 37), talks about birth parent searching in China with quotes from Brian Stuy, Kay Johnson, and Dr. Changfu Chang, a documentary filmmaker who has made several films about birth parents and adoption in China.  Interesting quote from him in this paragraph: 

The Chinese government hasn't taken an official position on search, but Chang is sure that 'the CCAA and Ministry of Civil Affairs are keeping a close eye on the ongoing searches by U.S. and European families."  At this point, they seem to be taking a 'wait and see' approach, though attitudes differ greatly from province to province.

The second sidebar, Talking About Corruption (p. 38), has helpful advice from Amanda Baden, Ph.D., who specializes in transracial and international adoption.  First thing that caught my attention -- unless you have proof that your child was kidnapped or confiscated by birth planning authorities, etc., "don't imagine a worst-case scenario," but also don't whitewash or lie about it.  Second important point:  "This isn't a topic to get into with a 3-year-old.  Baden recommends tackling it . . . at 6 or 7."

For those of us who are looking for the perfect way to explain this difficult issue, no luck:

'There's no great explanation -- it can't be spun in a way that makes it happy,' says Baden . . . 'The challenge is to be honest, and frame it so that a child can understand the situation, reflect on it, but not internalize a lot of negative feelings about China as a country.'

Also, take a look at this Adoptive FamiliesCirle blog, where an adoptive mom describes a conversation about birth parents with her 6-year-old adopted daughter. Struck me as familiar -- Maya is 6, and this weekend she told me all about a school project of making a flower, and putting on each petal who they pray for (Catholic school, remember?!).  She proudly listed each person in the family -- "you and Zoe and Mimi and Grandpa and my birth mother. . . ."  Looks like Maya is entering a new phase;  she's moved beyond avoidant mode in talking about her birth mother!

Chinese Immigrants in America -- for kids

In honor of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I wanted to share this book, Chinese Immigrants in America -- Zoe loved it! It's about Chinese immigrants to the U.S. in the 1850s, and there are three different ways for the immigrant to go after arriving in San Francisco, and the reader can choose.  The immigrant can go pan for gold, can go work for the Transcontinental Railroad, or can settle in San Francisco's Chinatown.  The book is very informative, and any dryness of subject matter was counteracted by Zoe's excitement in getting a choice of what her character did first. The reading age range given is 9-12, and  I'd agree. Zoe did read all three routes, but especially liked the Transcontinental Railroad part.

I know I've said this before, but I think it's important for parents of children adopted from abroad to recognize that our children share the immigrant experience with other groups who have come to America.  It isn't enough to focus solely on the history and culture of their home country;  they need to recognize that hypen -- the Chinese-American experience, the Korean-American experience, the Russian-American experience, etc.  That hyphen is part of their identity.

In interest of fair disclosure, if you click on the amazon.com link, and buy the book, I get a kick-back.  I've resisted blogger's pressure to have ads on the blog, but the ease of using the amazon.com linky thing has persuaded me to add their little button.  I don't care whether you buy from amazon or some other outlet, or if you go to amazon on your own instead of buying through the button.  I don't really expect to make any money off this blog!  I just wanted to let you know that I'm a paid shill for amazon.com, so you can judge accordingly if you trust what I'm telling you about this book! (But Zoe really did love the book!)

This Week's Adoption News Links

Weekend reading: some interesting news report I've run across this week:

From USA Today, using Sandra Bullock's situation to discuss divorce in the midst of an adoption.

Review of a play, the "Mask Dance," about Korean-American adoptees "struggling to find their place in the world."

The Salt Lake Tribune explores preventing failed adoptions.

Adopting With Care, and For Good, from the New York Times, profiling Dr. Jane Aronson, "the adoption doctor."

Montana Supreme Court recognizes gay/lesbian adoption.

Yahoo News reports that the U.S. & Russian meeting in Moscow has led to an agreement to have an agreement on adoptions..

New Movie: Mother & Child

I can't embed the trailer, but you can see it here. The description:

Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Naomi Watts, David Ramsey

Director: Rodrigo García

Writer: Rodrigo García

Plot: A drama centered around three women: A 50-year-old woman, the daughter she gave up for adoption 35 years ago, and an African American woman looking to adopt a child of her own.

The movie will be released on May 7th, and has generated a buzz in the adoption community, with it's focus on birth mother, adult adoptee, and prospective adoptive mother.

Tomorrow Starts APA Heritage Month

You knew that, right? May is the month set aside for celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander American heritage. But why May? Just a random choice? Apparently not:

In May 1990, the holiday was expanded further [from a Congressionally adopted week-long celebration] when President George H. W. Bush designated May to be Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants.

Who knew May was a significant month for Asian Americans even before it became APA Heritage Month?!

Click here to see last year's post about APA Heritage Month, including links to lots of good sites with information about Asian & Pacific American heritage.

Chinese Orphan, Never Adopted, Seeks to Finish College Education

Miao Miao Dang grew up in a Chinese orphanage, with scoliosis, never adopted. She is now in the U.S. attending school to become a social worker so that she can work with orphans. The American family who was supplying her educational costs can no longer do so, and she's looking for help to complete her education. She tells her story at her blog:

I was born in a small city, LuoYang, in China, and my entire childhood was spent at the orphanage. Due to the one child-policy, most people tend to want boys. My biological parents abandoned me after I was born with a physical defect called scoliosis, so I do not know what they looked like and I do not have any information about my family history. Living in an orphanage, life was different from a family life. The nannies usually told me what I was supposed to do while I was young. I had to remember what I should do or what I should not do. There are many different ages of children living together, and I remember there were many girls of different ages who shared a room with me. In a family life, parents usually give a lot of attention to their children and remind them what they need to do. Having lived at the orphanage, I observed what life is like being an orphan. I learned to be self-motivated.

* * *

I am very interested in working with adoption agencies because my life experience helps me understand how important it is for children to have a home when they are young. Then they can have a better future. Now I am junior at Seattle University. I sincerely hope I can finish my education in Seattle then start my future. I look forward to new adventure and to become a professional social worker.

More information about her in an article in the Seattle University Spectator. Love Without Boundaries shared it on their facebook page and said, "We met MiaoMiao when she lived in the Luoyang orphanage during our cleft surgery trip there in 2005. She is such an amazing girl and has overcome so many odds. We wanted to share this article about her as we are all hoping and praying she finds a way to finish her degree."

Black-Asian Unity/Disunity

A call for Black-Asian unity in the face of recent violent crimes against Asians by Blacks in the San Francisco area:

Black-Asian Unity: Why we need to talk about race relations beyond individual incidents

Since publishing my first book, “BlAsian Exchanges, a novel” two years ago, I have often been asked to speak about the real-life common history of Blacks & Asians that is highlighted throughout my book. This includes the true story about Richard Aoki, a Japanese American, who was one of the founding members of the Black Panther Party, the NAACP’s opposition to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, and Black and Asian American students joining protests to promote ethnic studies at college campuses in the 1970s.

The interest is generated by the fact that many of these transracial connections between both Asians & Blacks involve a specific history of collaboration that mainstream media and traditional academia ignore but most people – especially Asians & Blacks – want to hear.

I believe that Asians, Blacks and the rest of the community should keep this common history in mind and consider talking about it at future community meetings and social gatherings as we try to grapple with whether incidents like the April 16 killing of Tiansheng Yu are hate motivated or random crimes.

Hearing about our commonalities – be they political or social – helps break the ice and creates the necessary bridge to discuss issues like race that can be hard for any community to discuss, particularly given America’s hesitancy to take up such concerns.

NAACP Hopes to Diffuse Tension Between Asians and Blacks in San Francisco

Rev. Amos Brown and leaders of the San Francisco chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) convened a group of
community, church and civil rights leaders from San Francisco’s Asian Pacific Islander and African-American communities to discuss and create a response to the recent string of violent incidents in the Bay Area involving members of the two communities.

* * *

Rev. Amos Brown told the group that the NAACP denounces these violent acts, saying, “when young African Americans prey on vulnerable Asians, that’s a no – no.” He stressed the historic advocacy role of the NAACP in the outrage over these incidents saying, “when marginalized people like blacks, gays or Asians are wronged, somebody has to speak up on their behalf.”

You'll recall the violence between Black and Asian students at South Philly High School last year (and perhaps this year as well.) This has been a difficult issue to talk about. Our expectation of racial violence is that it will be majority group v. minority group. When it is between minority groups there's this feeling of having to "choose sides," to compare the degree of oppression each group has experienced. Because certain racial groups, like African-Americans, get tagged as "criminals generally," those who buy into that stereotype want to judge them quickly as the wrongdoers and those who find that stereotyping wrong want to leap to their defense. Other racial groups, especially Asian Americans, are often stereotyped as passive, the perfect victims, which often helps them avoid blame for racial violence (for example, very few reports of the violence at South Philly High mention that the attcks that hospitalized 26 Asians was purportedly in retaliation for an attack on a disabled African-American student by 4 Asians (not to excuse the retaliation; even if the report of an attack by Asians against a Black student is true, the retaliation was as wrong as the intial attack)) -- but who wants the stereotype of perpetual victim?

All of these are tentative thoughts and questions. I'd be interested in what you think. As they grow older, our children of color will be having this conversation, too.

Also, at Racialicious there's a great post on this needed conversation, Talking About the Things We Do to Each Other.

Free Online Chat: Talking to Kids About Artyom

Adoptions Together, an adoption agency that describes its services as follows: "we offer a holistic approach to permanency including education, therapy, and other support services to all families touched by adoption, foster care, kinship care, and guardianship," offers a free online chat on how to talk to your kids about Artyom's return to Russia by his adoptive mother:

On May 5th at noon, we will be offering a free online chat with an adoption counselor to discuss how to approach a conversation with your children about this event so that you can allay their fears and concerns.

The website also recounts this advice for talking to your child about this difficult incident:

The week the story broke, after a busy day with the media, I sat at the dinner table with my family sharing our day. My 11th grade daughter shared that in school that day not only had they talked about this event, but they had watched a news story about it. She then turned to me and said, “Thank you mommy for not sending me away when you found out I was a problem child.” For a moment I was surprised because after more than eight years as my child I imagined that she no longer wondered if and when she would be rejected. I assumed at this point she understood that she would always be my daughter. It was a great reminder that many adoptees never stop wondering, and events like this can trigger this deep-seated fear.

Hearing stories like this in the media may create insecurity for children who were adopted and can challenge the image of the authenticity of our families. We cannot protect our children from the energy outside of our homes so it is really important to proactively communicate with them about these difficult adoption stories. It is a wonderful opportunity to hear how your child is feeling and what they are thinking, and to reassure them that you love.

I don't know anything more about the agency or the quality of its services, but thought this might be a good opportunity for anyone who has specific questions they'd like to discuss.

Beyond the Reunion

At Adoption Mosaic, Melissa of Yoon's Blur guest posts about after-reunion complexity:

I am a Korean-American adoptee who met my biological parents for the first time (last year in June of 2009) since my relinquishment in 1975. Since then, I have officially entered into what is often referred to as “post-reunion.”

Post reunion often receives less attention, I think, in part, because it is less glamorous and less emotionally climactic than the process of search and reunion. Hearing the story of how I searched for seven long years and the details of the first moments of coming face to face with my Omma and my Appa are much more enthralling and riveting. It is this phase of the adoption experience that brings simultaneous tears to our eyes and smiles to our mouths. But the actual reunion is only the beginning of a long, and often arduous and daunting, process. I find it unfortunate that post-reunion is so grossly neglected, because it can often be the stage in the process that can last the longest, can be the most fragile and complicated, and requires long-term support that is often lacking or underdeveloped.

The whole thing is a must-read, whether you think your child will ever have an opportunity to reunite with birth family. It reveals so much about the emotions of adopted persons, whether in reunion or not. I'm grateful for Melissa's honest sharing.

Sandra Bullock Adopts

From People:

Bullock reveals exclusively in the new issue of PEOPLE that she is the proud mother of Louis Bardo Bullock, a 3½-month-old boy, born in New Orleans. "It's like he's always been a part of our lives," Bullock, 45, says. She and husband Jesse James, 41, began the adoption process four years ago. . . . Bullock says she is now adopting as a single parent.

Oh, and the story mentions nothing so indelicate as the race of the child. Only the photos reveal how far removed she is from this study's findings.

P.S. I said jokingly in the comments that any family would look better in a home study by not having Jesse James, Bullock's soon-to-be ex-husband, in it. And that was before I read Dawn's post on the subject at This Woman's Work and was reminded of Jesse James' Nazi fetish. Yikes!

Spring Photos

Just because . . . .

Adoptive Parents Sue Agency

A family sues Bethany Christian Services for misrepresenting the health of the Russian child they adopted:

Chip and Julie Harshaw vividly remember the first time they met a little 18-month-old boy named Roman in a Russian orphanage. It was December 2003.

"I remember squatting on the floor with some toys and hoping he would want to come over and interact with us which he did," Julie Harshaw said.

The adoption was arranged by Bethany Christian Services -- the largest adoption service in the country. The Virginia Beach couple made it clear to Bethany in their application that they wanted to adopt a child with a good prognosis for normal development. They put their trust in the agency and were assured Roman was fine.

"Our case worker had told us their doctor had gone over to see him physically examined him and that he was healthy and on target," said Chip Harshaw.

A month later, Roman settled into his new surroundings, immediately doting on his big brother Daniel. But over the next several years, the Harshaws say Roman developed from an on-the-go toddler to a child prone to violent tantrums.

"It would happen over anything and everything," said Julie.

There is a hole in his bedroom wall where the couple says Roman slams the door. He pulled several of his baby teeth out with a pen cap and threatened his sister Grace several times. "Roman went over and grabbed a two-by-four on the side and came up behind her and she had her back to him and he was going to hit her with it to stop her from leaving."

The Harshaws took Roman to many doctors and eventually a specialist diagnosed him with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Last year, they filed a federal lawsuit against Bethany Christian Services. In legal documents obtained by WAVY.com, the Harshaws claim Bethany misrepresented Roman's health.

We call these lawsuits "wrongful adoption" suits. We saw a slew of them starting in the late 80s, though the history of hiding information or misrepresenting facts started much earlier.

In the early 20th century, there was actually fairly full disclosure about children to be adopted. Many of the kids were older, so hiding background information wasn't really possible. And the newly-professionalized social work movement favored disclosure. The popularity of the eugenics movement, with its focus on inheritable traits, also led to full disclosure. By the 50s, though, adoption practices changed. Agencies were more interested in hiding unpleasant information so as not to stigmatize adopted children, or harm their self-esteem. If the adoptive parents didn't know negative information, they wouldn't have to disclose it to the child later.

The first really big wrongful adoption case was Burr v. Stark County Board of Commissioners in Ohio in 1986. In that case, the agency told the adoptive family of a newborn that the child was healthy and born to an 18-year-old birth mother. When the child had serious health problems, including being diagnosed as mentally retarded, the parents got a court order to open the sealed adoption records. Turns out the birth mother was a 31-year-old mental patient who was psychotic and had a mild mental deficiency. It was also suspected that the birth father was also a mental patient at the same hospital. The agency also knew that the infant had had a fever a birth and was developing slowly. None of this was disclosed to the adoptive parents. The adoptive parents won the suit, and were awarded damages for past and future medical treatment and educational help.

The Burr case is a pretty clear case of fruadulent misrepresentation -- not only did the agency fail to disclose information, they gave false information. Wrongful adoption suits can also be brought just for failure to disclose, even without the misrepresentations. A suit can even be brought for negligence -- even though the agency didn't know anything negative, they should have known, depending on the jurisdiction. Not all states recognize a negligence cause of action for wrongful adoption.

Most of the wrongful adoption caselaw involves domestic adoption. But as international adoption has grown, so has caselaw about international wrongful adoption. In the international context, courts recognize that the agency's access to information is limited, and so long as there is no affirmative representation about the health of the child the agency avoids liability.

The Harshaws case will be interesting to follow. One fact on their side -- the agency apparently had a doctor examine the boy and report that he was healthy and on target. But it could be there were no signs of FAS at that time, and the doctor didn't miss anything, in which case there wouldn't be a misrepresentation. More interestingly, the adoptive father says the agency backtracked about the doctor's exam -- "they said, 'Oops Dr. Dubrosky never saw Roman." If that's true, that the doctor never saw the child but they represented that he had, that will be VERY damaging in the lawsuit. Certainly, this will be one to follow.

As always, this post is not intended as legal advice. Consult your own lawyer before taking any action. I've simplified and omitted to make the issue of wrongful adoption more understandable for lay readers.

Russian Adoptees Get 2nd Chance at Montana Ranch

From the New York Times today:

EUREKA, Mont. — Hundreds of adopted children, most of them Russian, have come here to northwest Montana to live and perhaps find healing grace with the horses and cows and rolling fields on Joyce Sterkel’s ranch. Some want to return to the families that adopted them, despite their troubles.

Others, like Vanya Klusyk, have seen far too much of what the world can dish out. Vanya, 17, suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome, which affects his reasoning ability, his impulse control, his intelligence and even his height. Then there were the beatings in the Russian orphanage, he said, where he lived from age 8 to 14, until a couple from California brought him to America.

* * *

An international adoption can be a journey into the waters of the unknown, and sometimes the rocks and shoals — for the parents, the child or both — are too much to negotiate. Ms. Sterkel’s remote ranch, five miles from the Canadian border in a homesteader’s valley that got electricity only around 1960, is for some of those families the end of the line.

* * *

Ms. Sterkel can be just as tough in talking about some of her own clients, like the adoptive parents of a Russian boy who was recently brought to the ranch with early signs of fetal alcohol troubles. The parents had agreed to pay $3,500 a month for the boy’s keep, but they knew, they said, that whatever happened, they just could not take him back.

“That’s when it’s sad — they haven’t exhausted all the possibilities,” Ms. Sterkel said.

* * *

Critics say the ranch, and places like it that focus on experience as therapy — exposure to nature, animals and rules of ranch life — are islands of unreality that do not fundamentally address a child’s problems.

“All it does is give them a hiatus,” said Ronald S. Federici, a clinical neuropsychologist in Virginia who mainly treats foreign adoptees.

Dr. Federici has tracked international adoptions since 1992 and estimates that about 4,000 from Eastern Europe alone have foundered — with children being sent into state care or to places like the Ranch for Kids or back to their home countries. He said that while he respected the impulse behind the ranch, permanent improvement could not happen without a spine of rigorous medical and therapeutic treatment.

* * *

About 70 percent of the roughly 300 children who have come here, Ms. Sterkel said, do go back to their adoptive families — though she admits she often loses track after that. Of the remaining 30 percent, the younger ones are often readopted, while adolescents typically go into the federal Job Corps program.

Reactions?

Creating Support Groups

From a newspaper article about a family that formed a Chinese language and culture class after adopting from China:

To be the only Chinese child in a predominantly Caucasian community where even your parents are white can be quite frightening and confusing to a little kid.As Melinda Douros reported in an e-mail interview, her daughter Mei An got very excited on the first day of kindergarten when she saw another Chinese adoptee.
“Look, Mom,” Mei An whispered, “a girl with a face like mine!”

* * *

Adoption agencies and child development experts strongly encourage parents to give their Asian children opportunities to meet their peers. Actually, the parents don't need much encouragement, as they discover for themselves they need mutual support as much as their children do, according to Prof. Ann Moylan, Ph.D., California State University, Sacramento. She said she has seen similar cohorts of adoptive families with foreign-born children self-organize in other communities.

I'm glad to see the usual article about local families adopting internationally branching out to include information about the importance of language and heritage. I would have been more impressed if the article had talked about the importance of non-adopted Asian role models, and race and racism as well. Oh, well, you can't have everything, I suppose. . . .

Perpetual Foreigners & Arizona's Immigration Law

I'm sure you've been following the news about Arizona's new law designed to root out illegal aliens:

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed a bill Friday that requires police in her state to determine whether a person is in the United States legally, which critics say will foster racial profiling but supporters say will crack down on illegal immigration.

The bill requires immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and requires police to question people if there is reason to suspect that they're in the United States illegally.

What does that mean for you? Well, if you have children of color, it could mean a lot to them. If your child came from abroad, he or she is an immigrant. Yes, the Arizona measure is intended to weed out ILLEGAL immigrants, and our children emigrated legally. But we know that people of color are seen as "perpetual foreigners," which I've written about here and here. And when focusing on illegal immigration, police are likely to catch legal immigrants, naturalized citizens, and birthright citizens in their net as well. And before long, our children, when old enough to be out without us, are going to have to carry proof of their LEGAL status so they won't get pulled in by a doubting police officer. Carrying papers -- not the America I expected my immigrant children to live in.