Here’s what comes to mind when I think about the annual KAAN Conference:

• Reconnecting with friends I see only once a year at KAAN
• Making new friends
• Learning from others’ adoption experiences
• Laughter, tears, and hugs
• Seeing the latest adoption films, often before they’re released to the public
• Buying the latest books, and sometimes finishing them before they make it home
• Late night drinks in the bar with friends
• The excitement of t… Continue

I just wanted to announce, with great excitement, that my book about my daugther's adoption from Russia, Adopting Alesia: My Crusade for My Russian Daughter, is now available to order from Amazon! It was a 5 year labor of love to get this book to press, since I work full-time and am a mom to two, now. However, I am proud of it and I want to spread a very important message - older kids Rock! For more, see below.

What do you do when you encounter a spirited little girl in a Russian orphana… Continue

Dear Editor:
I grew up watching Melissa Gilbert on "Little House on the Prairie," never missing an episode. So it was especially sad for me to read her opinion of adoption in the most recent People Magazine since I am a birth mom who placed my child for adoption in 2000 so she could have a better life. Did it ever occur to Mrs. Gilbert that she probably would not have had the success she's had if her birth mom didn't make the decision she did?
In this day and age it still amazes me the horrible… Continue

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/06/placing-child-for-adoption-no-longer-considered-taboo.html#more

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-05-18-mother_N.htm?POE=click-refer