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A new study published in the Journal of Pediatric Research looked at family environment and development in children adopted from institutionalized care. “This prospective study followed children recently adopted from institutionalized care over two years to investigate the relationship between family environment, executive function, and behavioral outcomes,” study author Constantine A. Stratakis told us. “My research interest is how early life stress effects development.” [More]

Researchers at Columbia University have found children who experience adversity early in life were more likely to experience gastrointestinal problems. These symptoms may implications for emotional health later in life. [More]

Are birth mothers, who gave their child up for adoption, worthy of recognition of Mother’s Day? Are adopted mothers, who took in a child that is not biologically theirs, worthy of recognition of Mother’s Day? The answer is yes.... [More]

On his program, The Daily Show, on Comedy Central, Jon Stewart put up with little or no “bull”. He gleefully punched holes in the comments of the pompous and hypocritical. He maintained an enthusiastic following for sixteen years. On April 1, 2016 (it was no April Fool’s joke) Jon changed his stance and went out of his way to save a bull named Frank.... [More]

When human babies are born, they are totally helpless. The babies need the parent for total survival. As the child begins to develop into a toddler, preschooler, and an adolescent, the once helpless babies, are now taking on an identity of themselves. As parents teach their children the difference between right and wrong along with socially appropriate behavior, discipline is often used. [More]

Rehoming. Disruption. Dissolution. These terms have been tossed around flippantly, often used interchangeably, in the news lately. However, they each encompass very different meanings and have different implications in the world of adoption. This month, Arkansas State Representative Justin Harris and his wife Marsha continually made headlines for rehoming their two adopted daughters to a friend they knew for years. This ‘friend’ eventually raped one of the girls (Arkansas State Representative, 2015). [More]

There is no doubt that adoption is an emotional process for families, from the initial decision to pursue adoption all the way through negotiating childrearing and adulthood. Adoption is not a simple process, but a complex series of interactions that can be frustrating and daunting. Emotionally fulfilling and at the same time taxing, adoptive families almost universally agree that it is an overall enriching life experience that they wouldn’t change. What’s perhaps most unexpected for families is how their experience of the process is emotionally so similar to that experience that their adoptive child experiences. [More]

There are approximately 120,000 children adopted in the United States every year. Obviously there are many selfless reasons to adopt a child, whether it be from overseas, from within the United States, from an agent, from a family member or from foster care. [More]