Archive for October, 2017

Mateo and Charlie

Friday, October 27th, 2017

Two weeks ago, Mateo fainted, smashed his head on a tile floor, and suffered a concussion. I was in the kitchen cooking dinner, and when I heard him crash, thought the TV had fallen off the wall. The thud was that loud.

He’s feeling better now–lots of rest, quiet, and hugs with his bestie, Charlie. (EEG said all good; sometimes kids faint apparently.) Mateo will return to school Monday. I’m relieved he’s well enough, but Charlie will miss his good buddy.

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Pew Research on international adoption

Friday, October 20th, 2017

Here’s a link to the annual report from Pew Research about the state of international adoption. Bottom line: “Americans adopted around 5,370 children from other countries in fiscal year 2016 – 77% fewer than the peak in 2004 and 66% fewer than in 1999… (By comparison, Americans adopted about 53,500 U.S.-born children through public agencies in fiscal 2015…)”

My children came to me at a moment in history that no longer exists–in the early 2000s, during a wave of adoptions from Guatemala. They belong to a specific cohort–of 29,805 children adopted from Guatemala.

Everything about my children’s lives is informed by the fact they are adopted.

There’s no judgement in that sentence, just a statement of what is. Change one thing, change everything. Truth.

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