http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/07/11/NSW_government_eases_adoption_law...

NSW government eases adoption laws
Heidi Tiltins

11/07/2008
Families and foster carers will soon find it much easier to adopt
children, with the State Government winding back tough restrictions
and providing more incentives.

For many families the wait for adoption can take years, many over a
decade.

But that’s all about to change with the government announcing it’s
cutting red tape to help more children find permanent placement.

Illegibility criteria will be simplified – women will be able to apply
for adoption while still using fertility treatment, and foster carers
will be able to retain their financial allowances if they decide to
adopt children in their care.

Carers have already welcomed the plans saying it will help free up
DoCS case workers to help other children in need, by not having
continuing checks against foster parents.

'China's Stolen Children'. A documentary produced by Kate Blewett and
Brian Woods (whose earlier docs include 'Bulgaria's Abandoned
Children' and 'The Dying Rooms', a film about Chines state-run
orphanages) about the black-market trade in children that has resulted
from China's one-child policy.
It's directed by their former production manager, Jezza Neumann, and
can be viewed on TMN on Wednesday 16th July, 8.00pm Eastern time.

Or here, in 9 parts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgFxEPePO6g

There's another dead Russian adoptee today: Chase Harrison. I blogged
about it: http://bastardette.blogspot.com

Marley

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jul/06/children.communities1

Race dilemma at the heart of our adoption crisis
The majority of children awaiting adoption in Britain are black, Asian
or mixed-race while most available adopters are white. The issue of
'transracial' adoption is hugely controversial with experts divided on
what is best for the young, vulnerable children. Chief reporter Tracy
McVeigh investigates
Tracy McVeigh
The Observer, Sunday July 6, 2008

Fiona Graham is white, but she has been racially abused when out with
her children over the past few years. 'They don't shout at the kids,
but there have been a few choice things said to me,' she says. 'Paki
lover' is a favourite. That's if she's not with her oil rig worker
husband, who is as white as she is and of an intimidating stature.

The Grahams have two children, Aisha, 10, and Burhan, five, who were
born to a British Pakistani woman and a white father in the north-east
of England.

The couple, from Stirlingshire, adopted the children three years ago
and Graham knows they will have some unique issues ahead of them as a
family, but she is determined to be as prepared for them as she...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/camilla_cavendish/article4301281...

July 9, 2008
Family Justice: 29 useful websites for parents and grandparents
The Family Justice campaign has inspired a huge reaction from families
and parents wanting to share information online.
Tom Whitwell, Communities Editor
This is a selection of websites recommended by readers of The Times
who are supporting our Family Justice campaign .

The Times is not responsible for the content of these sites. Many of
them are maintained by people in their spare time, so may not be
available all the time.

Family Rights Group
"We are the charity in England and Wales that advises parents and
other family members whose children are involved with or require
social care services. We run a confidential telephone advice service
for families."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jul/06/children.communities

'I was classed as unadoptable: I was supposed to try to be white'
The Observer, Sunday July 6, 2008

Case study 1: Joy
Joy Carter is effusive, funny and philosophical about her 38 years of
life.

'I'm very much a believer that when something happens in life, it
happens for a reason.'

A black woman raised in Lincolnshire by white parents and with two
white brothers, Carter has had to struggle to find her place in the
world and to accept her Nigerian heritage. 'The journey involved a lot
of counselling. I left school with anorexia, a terrible stutter and
three A-levels. I can respect my past, but it's not going to be a
legacy for my future. I'm so proud of my parents. It's brilliant they
adopted me. The huge catalogue of issues I had... well, that's when my
parents came into their own. I had parents with me through thick and
thin. I had a tough childhood. Perfect families don't exist: there are
divorces and new partners and fighting and fall-outs. You don't see
colour at home, you see parents who love you.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1030049/Ian-McEwans-long-lost-brother...

Ian McEwan's long-lost brother tells the story of how he was given
away at birth
By Dave Sharp
28th June 2008

Certain events in life stay with you.
No matter how long ago they occurred, you are always able to bring
them back.
For me, one such occasion was the early summer of 1957 when I was
coming up to 15 years old.
My life in Binfield Heath, a village in rural Oxfordshire, was a
simple, but happy one. I was the much-loved only child of Rose and
Percy Sharp.
My father was a metalworker, and we lived in a small terrace house
with gas lighting and one cold tap.

A typical schoolboy, my evening routine was the same whatever the time
of year - home from school, in for tea and then out with the football.
I'd stay outside kicking about until dusk.
This particular...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2262165/Sperm-donor-children-%%27should-be...

Sperm donor children 'should be told at age of four'
By Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent in Barcelona
07/07/2008

The children of sperm donors should be told of their origins as young
as four, a new study suggests.
Toddlers and children are more resilient and able to process the news
than those who find out in adulthood, according to the research.

Scientists at Cambridge University found that those who were told as
adults were three times more likely to feel angry than children.

In total 38 per cent of adults characterised their feelings as anger,
compared to 12 per cent of four to 11-year-olds.

Three times as many adults also said that when they found out they
were shocked, compared to 27 per cent of children.

The researchers asked 165 children conceived through sperm donation.

They found that those in single sex families or those where there was
no father around were much more likely to have been told how they were
conceived than children of hetrosexual couples.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0707/p09s01-coop.html

HOW TO REALLY HELP PREGNANT TEENS
Quit judging. Instead, address root causes.

By Jeannette Pai-Espinosa
from the July 7, 2008 edition
E-mail Print Letter to the Editor Republish del.icio.us digg
PORTLAND, ORE. - It was common for pregnant single women in the 1800s
to be called "lost, fallen, wayward, and depraved women." Fast forward
to 2008 and spend a bit of time online and you'll read statements that
refer to the 17 young pregnant high school women in Gloucester, Mass.,
as "sluts, idiots, harlots, and immoral."

This is not progress. We need to move beyond name calling. Let's ask
ourselves not only about how we look at vulnerable young women in our
society, but let's use those answers to help make a positive
difference for them.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/camilla_cavendish/article4303324...

July 9, 2008
Family justice: what we can do to protect our children
A ten-point plan to make our courts system fairer

Camilla Cavendish
Learn more about family justice | Write to your MP | Share your
experiences

Over the past three days The Times has set out some of the ways in
which it fears the child protection system is being subverted by
forces that are largely unaccountable. We believe that the Children
Act has unintentionally handed enormous power to local authorities and
experts, which some are using arbitrarily. And that secrecy keeps
injustices from public view.