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
Continue reading »by Michele Fried Recently we wrote about stress and offered ways to deal with stress. We acknowledged that stress in not necessarily unhealthy in fact. When considering stress, when do we pass into something known as anxiety? What is anxiety and when does it become a diagnosis? Saying we feel anxious or stressed does not
Continue reading »by Michele Fried I remember reading a painful account written by Roseanne Barr as she described falling to her knees and begging the paparazzi not to leak the story of her having a child at the age of 17. In 1970, when she was 17, Barr had a child that she placed for adoption. Brandi
Continue reading »by Michele Fried “Wow. I have been feeling really stressed out lately!” Have you heard that before? Are you saying that? A partner? Friend? Coworker? Stress can surprisingly be good. It may energize or motivate you. The human stress response prepares us for physical activities and allows us heightened sensitivity and being more alert. Good
Continue reading »by Michele Fried I found this article very funny. I read it lightheartedly but I won’t lie, I have found myself wondering if the longest living person was a parent? But I have never wondered if our marriage would be better without children, not at all. I believe my marriage is richer because of my
Continue reading »by Michele Fried As mentioned in previous blog posts, the Child Welfare Information Gateway is an incredible resource for adoptive families. Adoption STAR highly values the information shared via the agency’s website and various print publications (as evidenced by the fact that we’ve incorporated some of their pieces into our agency’s Adoptive Parent Education Manual).
Continue reading »by Michele Fried Ok, I have to get this off my chest. When speaking to an adoptive parent, please don’t ask if we see Nick’s real parents, or how his mother is. Chris and I are just fine. I am an open book as far as speaking about our adoption, because we are so lucky
Continue reading »by Michele Fried Keep in perspective that deciding on adoption is a courageous, difficult choice and some birth parents will struggle with their decision to make an adoption plan for their baby, a birth parent may change his or her mind and request the return of the child. Disruption of an adoption plan after placement
Continue reading »by Michele Fried In September 2000, I wrote letters in support of Open Records throughout New York State. Fourteen years later we still wait. However, there is recent news in various states that are showing us that we may see some changes on the horizon. Connecticut’s recent move to open birth records may actually be
Continue reading »by Michele Fried Marie and Peter were coming up on their two-year mark with the agency. Their home study was already updated once and soon to expire again. For an agency that was only slightly over four years old at that time, the “wait” to adopt was not long at all. Even now, the agency
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