Stork Central
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Truth IS stranger than fiction...
According to ABC News, Casey Anthony, newly-acquitted mother of murdered child Caylee Anthony, is interested in adopting:
Anthony Wants An Unwanted Child To Love
Spare us, please.
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"Our children are our only hope for the future,
but we are their only hope for their present and their future."
--Zig Ziglar
They'd hoped for an opportunity to grow their family through adoption, even before they'd attended our TIKLV orientation weekend of November, 2010...
She'd hoped for a better life for her baby girl, even before her child's birth in April, 2011...
Yet it took divine intervention to cause the paths of one Kentucky family and one Texas birthmom to intersect this week, enabling a miracle to occur that is undoubtedly in the best interests of the precious daughter they now share.
May God continue to watch lovingly over both families and their children, smile down on this dear baby, and grant each of them lasting peace.
Blessings, all!
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For prospective adoptive parents who are seeking to adopt only a full-Anglo infant...
Not only are there fewer full Anglo-Caucasian infants being placed for adoption in America, there are fewer white babies being born, nationwide.
Adoptive parents will always come to the process with their own subset of preferences, just as birthparents do.
But think about it: if you didn't go into courtship seeking only a spouse who looked just like you, then why should a child have to look like you, in order to get adopted by you?
(Just a thought...)
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Abrazo, and adoption, are all about extending families for the love of children, and today we are blessed to share in the growing family connection between two Texan homes (and another beyond.) One Texas family, graduates of Abrazo's TIKLV orientation class of 11/10, were drawn here because they didn't feel they had enough children, while the other, a local family with many children, felt they were beyond their limits. These two families have spent the last few months building a caring friendship and becoming kin, forming a circle of love around the sweet baby boy who entered the world this past weekend. That circle has grown to include the East Coast family of this precious child's adopted birthsibling, who also join in celebrating his arrival, and our greater Abrazo family who embraces them all. Every child should be so adored... bienvenidos, tiny guy!
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CNN published a story today about an organization which Jenni J. just brought to our attention last week or so, whose website also appears in our post under this thread from last fall: Life-changing Grants for Domestic Adoptions
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Motherhood, when coveted, is a multiple-faceted blessing treasured by all who know the longing to parent…but perhaps it is never more appreciated than by those women who became mothers only by the grace of God and the sacrifice of another.
Today, we send out extra-special Mother's Day wishes to a very special birthmom and birthgrandmama, and to a much-loved family from our DropSwapChop orientation group of July 2010. This weekend, they proved their willingness to go the extra mile on behalf of their newly-born son, as his birthmother endured agonizing deliberations to be sure she was making the right choice for him. None of this was "easy" for any of them, nor should it have been; a life-changing transition has taken place which forever impacts them all.
May this precious child always know this transition occurred amidst great courage, forethought, and unselfishness on the part of everyone involved...
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Recently, Abrazo has been deluged with requests for fee receipts for adoptions done years ago.
It seems that somewhere, someone has posted information online suggesting that the current adoption tax credit refund is somehow retroactive to adoptions finalized years back, regardless of whether the existing adoption tax credit was already claimed? The few adoption experts Abrazo has contacted around the country say they know nothing of any such opportunity, but for those who are seeking documentation for this reason, PLEASE USE YOUR CANCELLED CHECKS AS RECEIPTS FOR TAX PURPOSES.
Given that Abrazo's accounting is not done "in-house", we unfortunately do not have onsite accounting staff available to reconstruct verified fee receipt records for the last 17+ years worth of placements, and with banks no longer providing fullsize check images with deposit records, we have no means of providing documentation of individual cancelled check numbers for placements completed across the past decade or more. Abrazo's written policies state that the agency's charge for accounting research requests is $50/hr; we can hire an accounting temp for those who desire such service, but it may be more cost-effective and quicker to use cancelled checks, instead.
We would, however, encourage those seeking the alleged tax benefit to consult qualified CPAs, as the online information we have found seems to indicate it is only retroactive to those who adopted after 1/1/10. Good luck!
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According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, more and more older adults are turning to domestic adoption.
At Abrazo, most of our successful adopters are between 32 and 46 at the time of placement. We find that most of our 20-35 year old placing parents seem most at ease with adopters whose age is somewhere between their age and their parents' age. But very few birthparents are eager to place their newborns with couples whose ages are closer to their grandparents' ages (and keep in mind that for teenagers who were born to teen parents, their grandparents are often in their fifties).
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Nice to see another Hollywood-type doing a domestic adoption and becoming a multi-racial family: Mariska Hargitay & Hubby Adopt a New Baby
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Abrazo always says that what matters most to us is that our families are found by whatever children need them most, whether the placement occurs at Abrazo or beyond... so towards that end: Abrazo has been contacted by another agency seeking a Texas-only couple who are active in a conservative Christian/non-Catholic church and have been married more than 3 years, to adopt an already-born baby boy whose older birthmom desires a fully-open adoption that will include ongoing visitation. His birthmother is a college graduate with significant mental health issues, a history of drug abuse and Hepatitis C; the baby's HIV status is unknown as of yet. The baby (whose mother is Anglo and whose father's race is believed to be Anglo or Hispanic) was born at term by C-section on March 1, 2011. He was born with cyanosis, persistent pulmonary hypertension, spontaneous pneumothorax, and transient tachypnea. After an extended NICU stay, this little boy was moved to foster care, where he is awaiting the selection of an adoptive family, but his agency lacks appropriate prospects at present. If you are a devout Christian couple living in Texas, and you have a current homestudy, meet the desired criteria and are interested in being considered for this placement, please contact Brianna at Abrazo, for more information. Thanks!
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"The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life." -- Richard Bach
To two very special children:
Today, the parents who brought you into the world made the toughest decision any parent could. It was one they'd been considering with great courage, because they love you both so very much, they couldn't bear to go one more day feeling like you didn't have everything you needed in life.
They'd already tried everything they could to provide for you, but no matter how hard they worked, they couldn't give you the security you needed and the advantages they wanted for you. There wasn't anything you could ever have done to change the challenges they faced. And if there were any other choice, they would have loved to have you stay and grow up with them. Because you both have forever been very wanted and very loved. (Always know that!)
Yet your first parents wanted you to have a mom and dad who have a safe home of their own, who have a car and good jobs and plenty of food, and who don't have to worry every day about the next. So hard as it was for them, they chose a wonderful mommy and daddy for you, from Abrazo's TIKLV orientation group of 11/10. Your new parents already love you, and they love and respect your first parents dearly. And they understand how much you need to be able to continue loving them, too.
So it's okay for you to love all of them, don't ever worry about that. They're a team, your first parents and your new parents. And together, they are going to see to it that you both have everything you need in life. That's what being a family is all about, after all.
We wish you and all your parents every joy in your new lives together... and we send along plenty of heartfelt prayers for everyone, too, just for good measure!
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Texas' legendary bluebonnets are just beginning to peak their heads out, and clearly, it's to herald the arrival of a big, bouncing baby boy, lovingly placed by his first mom with a couple from Abrazo's Drop Swap Chop orientation weekend of 7/10. We welcome this precious child into the world, and wish his birthmother, his chosen adoptive parents and proud siblings (by birth and by adoption) every joy in their lives together. Blessings, all!
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"Thanks everyone! Please do me a favor? When you are sending prayers and good thoughts our way, please also direct some towards Texas. While we are making joyful plans to expand our family, someone or some family is making the hardest, most life-altering decision they will ever make!" -- Againer-in-Waiting's Facebook post, February 24 at 7:56am
When she wrote that post, nearly two weeks ago, that particular Abrazomom and her husband had just had their paperwork in for Number Two for a little over a month. The proud parents of a son adopted through Abrazo a few years ago, these 'tweeners had absolutely no idea that about the same time of that gracious posting, a young mother in San Antonio was nervously trying to get up the courage to choose an adoption agency to help her make plans for a baby she was expecting two or three months from now.
As a hardworking fast food restaurant employee, she didn't have the kind of job that came with health insurance and didn't think she'd qualify for assistance, so she'd not yet seen a doctor. Yet she knew it wasn't the right time to try to raise another child on her own, and just days after that message posted on Facebook by a stranger many miles away, she found the courage to call Abrazo. On the day she came in, she spent special time talking with someone at Abrazo who knew better than anyone else on staff what it's like to place a child for adoption. This inspired her to fill out paperwork to become a client, too, and she took several profiles of waiting adoptive families home with her, reading them carefully and taking each to heart. She called Abrazo about coming in again for another visit, but before she could do so, she found herself headed for the hospital! and upon delivering this past weekend, she knew exactly whom she wanted to be her precious baby girl's new family.
And yes, somehow, she had chosen those very same folks who'd unknowingly solicited prayers on her behalf just one week before. By chance? Not hardly. After all, nothing extraordinary happens by sheer coincidence. The first chapter of this child's life story is proof, once again, of the power of Love and the importance of faith.
May her life forever be filled with both! and may her dear birthmom and her doting new family be blessed with a friendship that withstands the tests of time. Congratulations, all!
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Sometimes, there are some matches that are so compatible, it becomes evident to everyone that there are some families that were always meant to be-- and some relatives who were always meant to find each other, across space and time. Today's placement was the beautiful culmination of one such match, as a Tennessee couple ("Abrazo's Invincible Diehards", April/May 2010) and a San Antonio mom, her son and her family chose to forever join their lives in a circle of love around one newly-born baby girl. We celebrate this newly-blossomed family tree and wish them all every joy in their lives together. Blessings, all! Welcome, little one!
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"Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them." --Psalms 126:5 (NIV)
Half a year ago, they didn't know each other-- these people whose lives are now forever entwined for the most precious of reasons.
She was a harried single mom, working to support her family and going to school to better herself.
They were a "still-childless" professional couple; everybody's favorite godparents with a lovely home and an ordered life yet no son or daughter of their own.
Both had shed countless tears, and each was praying for answers.
They found Abrazo in November, attending the TIKLV orientation weekend of 11/10.
She found Abrazo in January, seeking new options for the New Year.
Both were scared, and neither was sure that open adoption held the right answers for their future.
But God knew, surely, and we have no doubt that it was God who led them-- to us, and to each other. God had great plans for both of them, plans that enabled them to effect great change in the lives of the other, and especially for one much-loved baby boy, who came into the world welcomed by all of them, together.
May this be only the beginning of God's glorious plans for them... for both families, and the little boy who will forever love them all. Blessings abound!
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A Vatican cardinal has taken a stand, stating that Church's belief that all children need a father and a mother: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican-cardinal-adopted-children-need-both-a-father-and-a-mother/
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To the world, she may have appeared to be just one more pregnant teen, but the young woman who made such an enormous decision today for her child's future had courage and fortitude way beyond her years. Already the parent of another small child, she knew she wanted more for her newborn son than she could possibly provide. And she found just that, in a loving couple from our TIKLV orientation weekend of 11/10. She'd only talked with them once, after viewing their profile, but that conversation fueled her faith that God had a special plan for her life, for his, and for theirs. She may not have known that they, too, had suffered great loss along the way, but she could tell what caring people they were and how ready they were for parenthood, and when her baby arrived sooner than expected, they proved it. Today, her son has become theirs, too, and we ask God's blessing on this brand new family, that this might only be the beginning of a glorious new future for them all.
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We're all for children in need of loving homes finding them, and we're delighted that Jillian Michaels is excited to be adopting... but did the Star really have to make a reference relating Michael's current adoption plans to the trainer's prior acquisition of a dog with her gay girlpal? Ouch.
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And Madge, we know your intentions were good, but having adopted before, you weren't exactly "like a virgin" when it comes to knowing that you're over the "borderline" when you make promises to a birthfamily and don't keep them: Mercy's Family Considering Legal Action Since Madonna Didn't Honor Post-Adoption Contact Agreements
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Twenty-five weekends ago, Abrazo's newest parents were just another childless couple sitting through our 7/10 orientation weekend, DropSwapChop.
They longed to believe that someday, their prayers would be answered, but they had no idea how much there was to learn between then and now! Fortunately, though, being educators, they were quick learners. At times, their quiet phone must have given rise to fears that the process was working slowly (if at all?!) But what they couldn't know then was that in South Texas, a woman who'd become a birthmother more than twenty years ago was lovingly encouraging a friend and her husband to consider the same option, and it wasn't until this month that they found the courage to call Abrazo.
Within a week, they spoke with families, and a match was made! and within days of their very first meeting, that excited couple from the July orientation was headed back to Texas to meet the precious little answer to all their prayers.
"Tuesday's child is full of grace", says the timeless poem we've all grown up with, and the child born this past Tuesday is surely proof of God's grace, as she is blessed to be loved by her devoted first family as well as the new mom and dad with whom they have gifted her.
May the future grant them all the opportunity to make many more shared memories, and may the fledgling friendship they have just begun become sweeter and stronger, with each passing year. Blessings, all!
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She captured all our hearts at Camp Abrazo, each year that she attended with her longlost-but-finally found birthson, Grandpa Bruce... and we are saddened to learn that our beloved friend, D'Nola, age 90, passed away this morning, even as we celebrate her certain reunion with loved ones in Heaven. Our heartfelt sympathies go out to D'Nola's surviving sister, to Grandpa Bruce and his wife Pat, and to Scott, Karen, Amanda and Lexie. Thank you so very much for sharing D'Nola with us all. We were blessed to know her in the time that we had, and she will never, ever be forgotten!
P.S. If you are not familiar with the story of Grandpa Bruce and his birthmother D'Nola and how they came to find each other when she was just 87, go here.to read it. It's truly a beautiful tribute to the power of love and the importance of openness, in any season of life!
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Sometimes, in the madness of today's world, it's easy to forget that there really is Someone in charge, but every so often, we can't help but be reminded that there really is a greater plan, even when we can't fathom it in advance...
Last spring, Abrazo was blessed by the arrival of some "'Tweeners", those rare folks who come into our program between (or without the benefit of) orientations. One of these couples was from Pennsylvania: a childless pastor and his wife who had been referred here by another pastor and his wife who adopted through Abrazo a few years back.
Last autumn, they began talking with an expectant mom who inexplicably disappeared from their lives before the holidays (without reason nor explanation), which surely left them to wonder as they wandered through an Advent season that is, of course, all about a baby?
But on the twelfth day of Christmas, unbeknownst to them, God sent a very special gift into the world, in San Antonio of all places! And on the eve of the very Sunday that most Christian churches celebrate Epiphany (commemorating the actual arrival of the Magi in Bethlehem), these faithful servants got The Call telling them it was time for them, too, to embark on a journey to foreign lands... for a young, unmarried mother had delivered a child, and they'd been chosen to be her parents!
They promptly flew to San Antonio last night, despite snow flurry delays in Dallas, and were at Abrazo's offices first thing this morning, to complete the paperwork enabling them to become a family, at last. What a glorious start to the New Year! May God richly bless this new family-- and the mother who made it possible-- and may God smile upon all of Abrazo's waiting families, as well as the dear parents-still-waiting-to-find them, in the bright and beautiful year that lies ahead. Blessings, all!
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Many thanks to our beloved Holly Renee Todd, who took it upon herself to update "These Are the Women We Come From," the little video montage of birthparents that we show at orientation weekends... to see it for yourself, CLICK HERE.
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Thanks to Oliver's mommy, Steven's wife, and Abrazo's resident hotel fairygodmother, Melissa Giarrosso, the Embassy Suites in San Antonio are now offering reduced rates for Abrazo's guests this year!
This is a huge boon for our clientele, as the Airport location (literally within a mile of our office) will be offering a $99 per-night rate, and the IH10 location (nearer to the Medical Center) will offer an $89 per-night rate... which, of course, includes the legendary cooked-to-order breakfast, manager's reception and free Internet!
To get the reduced rate, guests will need to call each property directly and give Abrazo's corporate number, which we'll post here as soon as we get it from the hotel sales office.
Many thanks to Melissa, for pulling strings for us, because rates this-discounted are virtually unheard of, at Embassy Suites' nationwide!! We are absolutely delighted, and encourage our clients to make ample use of these arrangements, anytime travel needs bring you to San Antonio (Abrazofolk need not be attending orientation to qualify).
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Abrazo is saddened to learn of the passing, today, of Stacey Sweeney, another of our mothers by adoption.
Wisconsites Mike and Stacey Sweeney attended Abrazo's "Dandy Dozen Storkjackers" orientation weekend of January, 2005, and joyfully took placement of a beautiful newborn baby girl just three months later, in April, 2005.
On December 15, 2006, we were stunned to receive word that Stacey, who was just 41, had been hospitalized for strep, then developed a staph infection, sepsis and had a heart attack. Our DDSJ members rallied to support Mike & Stacey then, and shortly afterwards, when Stacey lapsed into coma. She was moved to a convalescent center, but never regained consciousness.
Our heartfelt sympathies go out to Stacey's husband Mike, their daughter Gabi, and her beloved birthmama Crystal (who had subsequently joined Abrazo's staff, serving as our receptionist for several years until electing to stay home with her own two children.)
Stacey was a beautiful mother and a loving wife and a loyal friend who will undoubtedly be greatly missed by those who never gave up hope that she might one day recover.
Please keep them all in your thoughts and prayers this holiday season.
Celebrity Adoptions
in Looking to Adopt
Posted
The son of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour is apparently dealing with his own issues, in the wake of a late discovery that his biodad doesn't have long to live yet did not welcome a reunion with his longlost birthson:
Another Brick in the Wall?