by Michele Fried Who would have guessed that the little girl in the yellow dress that I met on the day she turned two (not at my office) but in another state far away from the one my husband and I and three sons lived in, would one day understand that she has Down Syndrome
Continue reading »Monthly Archives: "September 2014"
Naming Your Baby
by Michele Fried My husband and I have never taken naming our children lightly. In fact sometimes I think we spent too many excruciating hours that we found ourselves on more than one occasion with babe in arms and no name! Our first was easily named and it carried great meaning and still does, Zachary
Continue reading »Meeting Janice
by Michele Fried She was beautiful. She peered over her black framed lenses as we entered the room. A magazine was opened on her lap and she quietly closed it to greet us. I remember thinking that she looked like a secretary in a hospital gown. She looked so well kept and fresh. Her dark
Continue reading »There is really no such thing as gay adoption ~ It is simply called ‘adoption’
by Michele Fried Discrimination: The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or gender. I recently asked why we don’t have a separate section on our website for LGBT adoption. Here is what I learned from our founder and CEO, Michele Fried, regarding her
Continue reading »A Simple Idea Makes A Big Impact
by Michele Fried It was a simple nice idea. The birth mother support group was meeting regularly and we thought it would be neat to have a holiday party instead of a support group meeting in December. Honestly we had a personal goal of recruiting at least three birth mothers to attend this party. We
Continue reading »Identity
by Michele Fried In January of 2011, I was invited to take a look at the beautiful sanctuary in The Unitarian Universalist Church located on Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo, New York. It was the very first time I was there, yet it felt familiar to me. I mentioned this to the Reverend and added that
Continue reading »A Day in the Life of a Mom
by Michele Fried As my children are getting older (and so am I), motherhood seems to be defined in so many different ways. One thing remains constant, however, and that is how it feels to be afraid for your child. Before I became a mom, so many people told me how hard being a parent
Continue reading »Adoption and Religion: You don’t have to be a believer to deepen our understanding of family
by Michele Fried Many people don’t know this but I minored in the philosophy of religions and continue to be fascinated by the differences yet incredible similarities within many religions. What I am most fascinated about is that "adoption" has deep roots within religion. As an example, I have outlined different religious perspectives regarding the
Continue reading »Being An Employee In The Adoption Field
by Michele Fried Working in adoption means so many different things to us. It means having the opportunity to be a part of a journey that is extremely intimate. It means connecting with many different people. It means having professional ethics and a deep understanding of people in general. It means that we are committed
Continue reading »This Adventure Feels Right
by Michele Fried We have and have had clients who were devoutly religious as well as those who describe themselves as atheists and agnostics. We have heard clients insist that a higher power has/had some intricate plan in their life, in the lives of their children and family. We have also heard clients wonder aloud
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