BellaOnline Forums Family Adoption Ideas for Adoptee Magazine/Newsletter columns???

Greetings from Jody Moreen, adoptee. I am desiring to publish a magazine or newsletter for Adoptees.This would be for adult adoptees- but may also might consider a publication for young adoptees also- separate from the Adoptee magazine.
Any suggestions for columns or what you as a reader might be interested in reading? If you know any adult adoptees who might be able to share feedback, please have them contact me with ideas.
adoption@wideopenwest.com

Also suggestions for a magazine title with Adoptee in the title are welcome!

Hi Jody,
Until we opened S's adoption more to include phone/computer contact, she thought her siblings had an easy life of no household rules, etc. She was surprised to learn that they, too, have household rules and experience consequences for inappropriate behavior. Not sure if this is the type of info you're looking for or not.
Karen

I am adopted and my two nieces are also. Over the years I have known many adoptees and since I have become more proficient with the use of a computer, I have helped some of these people do searches for their birth parents. While many want to find their birth parents, I have yet to find one that says its because they want to replace their adoptive parents. More like I felt, wanting to know the situation that brought that person to give up their child and general information.

While I communicated with my birth Mother for 15 years before, I tried to form a relationship with her but I never thought of her as my Mother. Things are not perfect (are they ever) with my adopted Mother but she is the one who raised me. You can't step back into a childs life after 25 years and pick up like nothing happened.

One of the issues I have with adoption is how lax the laws are that allow people who might not be fit parents, to adopt. Here where I live, a couple only has to do ONE psych eval with a mental health professional. This is not enough in my opinion. I believe that people should have to give a release so their backgrounds can be checked to see that there has been no instances of several mental illness or personality disorder.

Why do I say this?? I know of a family that was allowed to adopt two children. The Mother had suffered from mental illness her entire life. The marriage was very unstable because of the mental illness, years of therapy was of no help to the Mother. Of course the parents of the Mother AND the husband had this qauint idea that having children would make her better.
Unfortunately the pressures of parenthood made her even worse. Now that her two children are grown, one of them is crippled mentally from having a Mother like this. The eldest is still pretty disturbed by the home life she had but she has been able to go to school and work. The emotional abuse and neglect, lack of a loving home environment has left a permanent stamp on these two childrens lives. When I think of the loving families that could have given these two children wonderful homes it makes me sick. BECAUSE the system does not have enough checks and balances, these two children were raised in conditions that you wouldn't put a stray dog in.

Stories like this are not uncommon in the general population of course however it just makes everyone who assisted in the placing of these children culpable for their pain because they were placed with someone who is not fit to be a parent.

Hi and thanks for the replies. I am Jody and was adopted in 1955 to a wonderful family and extended family. I had one sister who was adopted as well. I searched and found my birth family when I was in my 30's ( I'm 52 now ) and I like many others was not desiring to find "parents" but learn about the circumstances of my adoption, my ethnic and medical history and find out where my physical features came from. My birth parents were deceased but I met 3 older sisters ( 2 of them full-blooded sisters) and they welcomed me- they were told I died at birth. My birth parents died before I found them- they had a very troubled marriage and alcohol issues and my birth mother had cancer when I was born - she survived many years after but died divorced and alone- a sad story. I will never regret finding out about my birth family and the mystery that hovered over me for a lifetime is solved. I do feel like I gathered the missing puzzle pieces of my life story and it has given me even more of an appreciation for my adoptive family and blessings that came from adoption. I have facilitated adoption triad support groups for over 12 years in IN and currently in west suburban IL. I also edited a publication that had 9 issues- Adoption Blessing Journal sharing stories from adult adoptees, birth parents and adoptive parents. I have been fascinated to learn about the whole adoption triad and see the blessings and challenges that adoption has fostered in people's lives. I do desire to publish a newsletter or magazine for adult adoptees for their are so many publications out there on adoption but not for the adopted person. It has been wonderful for me to meet other adoptees in my group work and see common threads of emotions and issues that can arise along the journey. I do believe adoption is a beautiful answer in cases where the birth parents chose not to parent and this life- giving option. I am so thankful my birth parents chose life.
Regarding Lisa's statement, I do think that there should be more screening in regards to the checks and balances for persons seeking to adopt. But I do believe many states do have stricter guidelines. It is heartbreaking to hear stories such as the one you describe Lisa about the children who were placed in a home with unfit parents who had a history of mental illness. Sadly we live in a fallen world and huge errrors like this can occur hurting the children. I guess it is important for many to get involved in the politics and laws regarding this- hope some people chose to do that. My area of passion is the emotional and spiritual needs of those touched by adoption.
Thanks everyone for sharing! Jody Moreen, IL.

Looking for other adult adoptees who would be interested in a publication for adoptees/adopted persons. To contact me put "Adoption Blessings Journal" in a search engine and you can e-mail me from the publication website. Adoption Blessings Journal is a publication that I edited that produced 9 issues of stories of faith from adult adoptees, birth parents and adoptive parents- stories, testimonies, articles, poems, book reviews, etc. Each issue is 20 pages and I still have some copies of many of the issues. Again, I would love to hear from any adult adoptees out there interested in a publication for adoptees/adopted persons and what one might like to read in a newsletter/magazine. Any suggestions?
Blessings, Jody M