Adopting out of birth order is a hot topic in the adoption community. Should it be done or not? You will find advocates for either side of the coin. Like most situations in life, I believe that it depends on the family involved. We have adopted out of birth order a couple of times. It has worked out well for our family for the most part.

Our first three adoptions were of babies. We adopted our daughter, Sahara first. When she was almost three years old, we started our son, Ryland’s adoption. When Ryland was five years old, we adopted our daughter, Claire. We stayed in birth order and life was fine and normal. Then we decided to adopt from Ethiopia. Ryland was feeling the... more

Continued from Part One...

Few monuments help illustrate those connections, though a Miami society is looking to change that. The Haitian American Historical Society is planning a monument in Savannah, Ga., to honor the Haitians who fought alongside colonial soldiers in the siege of Savannah during the American Revolution. At least 500 free black men from the French colony that became Haiti volunteered with American colonists and French soldiers in October 1779 in an unsuccessful attempt to drive the British from the coastal Georgia city.

Their little-known contribution... more

Here is a fascinating article linking Haiti with Black History Month:

Published Wednesday, February 14, 2007 Haitians celebrate cultural legacy during Black History Month

By JENNIFER KAY Associated Press Writer MIAMI Abolitionist Frederick Douglass and writers Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston are among the heroes celebrated every February during Black History Month. Shadowed in history, however, are their ties to Haiti, the first free black republic.

That relationship is being examined this year by the founders of Black History Month. The Association for the Study of African American Life and History designated this year's theme... more

Continued from Part Two…

Children being adopted from Haiti or other countries generally come home with some issues. Besides being developmentally delayed, they will most likely also be malnourished. They will most likely have skin problems (be it scabies or ringworm or molluskum). They will probably have quite a bit of dental work to be done. They may even come home very sick. They will be unsure of their place in your family and in their new country.... more

Continued from Part One...

Why should one consider homeschooling the internationally adopted child?

Many children adopted internationally, including those adopted from Haiti, are past the baby stage. With the length of the international adoption process, among other varying reasons (such as a child needing to be older than a certain age to be considered available for international adoption), internationally adopted children usually join their... more

We homeschool our children. We haven’t always homeschooled them. We started our first two children in Kindergarten at public school, like most people do. We had issues here and there, but told ourselves that homeschooling was a last resort—something to fall back on if we had no other options left.

We started having more and more issues with one child in particular. Our confidence in our local elementary school was quickly declining. And then, we adopted a nine and a half year old girl from Ethiopia. Just getting her registered in... more

Continued from Part Two…

We left Sears and went straight to Wal-Mart, where we were faced with an almost identical encounter to the one we’d just had at Sears:

Experience #2: The cashier looked at my kids and said, "Are they adopted or are they foster kids?" I was miffed by the question, thinking, "Grrr...WHY does it matter?!" I curtly replied, "I adopted them and now they are mine."

The cashier looked them over... more

Continued from Part One…

As I mentioned in Part One, it doesn’t matter how used to intrusive questions or comments one gets, you can and will still have times when you are thrown completely off-guard.

In the past couple of years, we have become accustomed to hearing comments about our family size more often than adoption-related questions. We still get plenty of them, but they are usually harmless ones, and most often kind... more

Adoptive families are a curiosity, and multi-racial adoptive families are even more so. When you adopt a baby or child that does not resemble you (as you most likely will if you adopt from Haiti), you can be guaranteed a rude comment, question or look here and there.

In the beginning, the questions and/or comments can be upsetting and often catch you off-guard. You are unfamiliar with the attention and feel irritated about having to explain your family. You are often unsure of the best or correct way to respond. On one hand,... more

Continued from Part Four...

The question posed:

If adopting from Haiti, particularly in the case of an older child, should parental visits to Haiti be allowed or encouraged before the adoption is finalized? I have heard the pros (early bonding) and cons (feelings of abandonment when you leave without the child) on this subject.

And one last response:

Agency 10

I would have to say YES, I believe parents should be allowed to visit prior to the adoption being finalized. I do not believe it is essential for families... more