Back Story: The recent Supreme Court ruling has brought out so many adoption myths. When society as a collective talks about adoption, it does not know what it is talking about. People say flat-out stupid things. Correcting those things has made me decide to blog again, although blogging feels so 2010. Disclaimer: It’s important to … Continue reading
It’s that time of year again – the Just Between Friends Sale is coming to the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, March 10-13. I wrote about it from the buyer’s perspective last fall. For the spring sale, I get to cover the seller’s perspective. I sold a few items at my first sale last year. Last fall, … Continue reading
In October, one of my adoption.com articles, 3 Ways to Respond to Stupid Things People Say About Adoption, was #3 for the month, in terms of hits, shares, likes, and other metrics. I’d love to see my November article, 7 Reforms I’d Like to See in Domestic Adoption, go all the way to #1. Go read … Continue reading
Flash back to last year: We knew we were moving to the North Bay. A friend forwarded me a notice about the Just Between Friends sale. It sounded awesome! But it happened at a bad time for us, so I couldn’t go. Flash back to spring time: I saw an ad for the Just Between Friends … Continue reading
I read the comments on blog posts. I shouldn’t, but I do. I read the following comment on a blog about the ethics of adoption fundraising: From my perspective, if the cost of domestic, international, or embryo adoption is too expensive for a family the obvious choice would be foster adoption. Maybe I’m just being … Continue reading
A question that comes up in the anti-adoption and family preservation camps is “Why don’t prospective adoptive parents give their money to expectant moms so they can keep their babies?” The answer to that is really easy: Prospective adoptive parents want to become adoptive parents, or, as we prefer to be called, parents. PAPs are … Continue reading
Every time someone asks about the cost of private domestic or international adoption, every time someone posts a fundraiser or asks for tips on raising or saving money, there are at least two people who chime in with variations on this theme: Adopt from foster care – it’s free! Sometimes, the comments are cheery: We … Continue reading
As I’ve discussed previously, adoption is expensive. It shouldn’t be. In Robyn’s Adoption Land, adoption costs what it costs, no more and no less. What does that mean, precisely? Fees are set based on the costs of actual services. Fees are not charged based on the race or gender of the child. All adoption agencies … Continue reading
I just took the Adoptive Families magazine Cost & Timing of Adoption Survey. I already had all of our expenses in a spreadsheet, sorted by year, for our taxes. I just had to break them down into categories for the survey. I am sharing them here. Let me tell you why. I am not sharing … Continue reading
If I were Queen of the United States, instead of just Queen of Robyn’s Adoption Land, everyone would have free health care. The minimum wage would rise with inflation. Food servers would have to be paid minimum wage, and tips wouldn’t count towards that. Schools would be better funded than prisons. Women would have the … Continue reading
Holding to the Ground 