An email from former Ukraine Adoption Blogger, Angela highlights the ongoing needs of the children in that country, and a fundraising project in the works now.

The 85 boys of the Teterevka orphanage, almost all ill and disabled, are in urgent need of food, shoes, and more, and An Orphan's Bright Star is asking for donations.

From the charity:

Teretevka is home to 85 special needs boys aged 7 to 25 yrs. 60% of these boys are ill, and a large percentage are invalids. They have so many... more

If you are preparing a dossier or waiting to submit a dossier, please read the entire post. This blog is just information reframed. Nothing has changed on dossier submissions.

As the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy states:

DON'T PANIC

Well this just blows rotten eggs. My hope for 2007 was that everyone who wanted to adopt, could adopt.... more

Natasha and I recently toured a food bank. I was amazed to find out that about 11% of the United States population are food insecure.

I delighted in Natasha's very developmentally appropriate behavior during the tour. Natasha is now 10 years old and came home from the orphanage 6.5 years ago.

Her longest lasting post-institutional... more

I started answering some of Jan's questions about ethical international adoptions yesterday. She wanted to know why families ignore warnings and take the risk of an unethical adoption?

Yesterday I wrote about the sometimes useless and general warnings that adoptive parents receive from the US State Department and US Embassy in Kyiv. Today... more

I love Jan. She always asks the best questions. All of the questions are from Heeding Warnings - Important in International Adoptions?

Jan wants to know if adoptive parents read the notices and warnings from the US State Department.

Yes we do. We read them very closely.

The State Department has 15 notices posted on Ukrainian... more

My favorite blogs from 1997 to 2005 are found here and include some single adoptive parent blogs. This blogroll will contain recent 2006 and 2007 Ukrainian adoption blogs. I will try to update it once a week (or more if I find interesting blogs).

The date/time stamp on this blog will indicate when it was updated. If I add a link or a family's status changes, I will mark it with *NEW*.

Post a comment below or email... more

Friday I listed charities that help Ukrainian orphans. I briefly discussed some of my volunteer work. Today I want to list specific activities that you can do.

All of the charities will accept cash. But there are some creative ways to turn every day activities into a donation. ... more

Before you send money or volunteer your time, I suggest investigating the charity. For the American charities read their GuideStar listing. There is also a GuideStar for the UK charities.

You may want to ask about the charity on the Ukrainian adoption email lists. And if the charity has... more

There are many ways to help children who remain in Ukrainian orphanages and live on the streets. There are many different charities that you can funnel money and volunteer hours into.

The photo to the left is my first picture of my daughter Natasha. I adopted her from Green Forest Orphanage in 2000. She was in a 1970s crib. Yes, the crib is almost 40 years old. The wire bars hurt (my daughter has some strong memories of hurting her head on them) and as an added bonus they are potentially covered lead paint.

I... more

I was asked for older adoption blogs and blogs written by single parents. Here is a brief list of my favorites.

Adoption of Denis Tho - August 1997 (10 year old Ukrainian/Korean child)

Cathy Harris' First Adoption - Feb 1998 (single mom)

Cathy Harris' Second Adoption - August 1998 (single mom)

Teresa and... more