Open Adoption Roundtable #8

So I debated participating in the Open Adoption Roundtable #8 since I haven't participated in the last one or two. They are lead by Heather at Production, Not Reproduction. We're not sure that we'll continue down the adoption path at this point, but I figured that since it's not totally out of the realm of possibility, I'd participate this week. If you're interested in reading more of the responses by other bloggers, you can click here.

The topic of this week's discussion: Write about a blogger (or bloggers) who influenced your real-life open adoption, and how.

I have many to mention, some I'm sure I looked at when we first began exploring adoption, and haven't looked at since, simply because I wasn't blogging at the time, and most of the time I checked out the blogs when I was at work and couldn't bookmark the sites. I will discuss the ones that I read and follow at this point.

Puzzle Pieces: Adoption is written by Ginger, a mom who parents one child, and is the first mom of 3 others. One of the things I tend to think about most when it comes to our open adoption is what I want for my child as they grow up. I want them to be able to have a relationship with their first family. So, that naturally leads me to obsess over what that relationship might look like, how I would like it to be, and what the realities are for others. Ginger's often examines and discusses things pertaining to her very different open adoptions with each of her children. None are the same, all are different degrees of openness and thus different types of relationships with the adoptive families. I appreciate her blog most for discussing her feelings as honestly as she can, it has helped me see things from another perspective and hopefully will carry on to any relationship we have with a first mom. We'll never be in their position, but to be able to hear how they feel, and what they are thinking will help us be more sensitive to the needs of our child's first mom.

Production, Not Reproduction is written by Heather. She has two children through adoption, and blogs about parenting adopted children, and transracial adoption, among other things. Her honest posts about daily life with adopted children, including their feelings and situations, and how they handle them give me true perspective into our potential future. I enjoy reading her posts and getting to know her family through them. She has written many posts where I just sit back and reflect on what we may come to experience, and how we might handle it.

life from here: musings from the edge written by Luna, a new adoptive parent. I've been following her since before her daughter was placed with her, and it's been nice to follow along, see how her relationship with the first family has developed and blossomed since her daughter was born. She has successfully navigated some awkward positions and describes that in her posts, and it gives me ideas for visits we may have with our child's first family someday.

I am participating in IComLeavWe where your goal is to explore other blogs, leave comments, and network with each other. Many of the people are just like us, adopting, or infertile. I hope to find more blogs that I enjoy reading by participating.