Teen moms need love, too
Apr 13, 2007 Adoption
Jennifer Niesslein, one of the co-founders of Brain Child (you know, the magazine for THINKING MOTHERS) knows that being young doesn’t a bad mother make:
It’s just that teenage motherhood is always held up as taking the easy way out, an act of the lazy–an act of the selfish brat who thinks she can handle raising a baby. I submit that this is bullshit.
She’s writing about the story below of the woman who was coerced into giving up her baby instead of being given help/support (or hell, GUIDANCE you know from her GUIDANCE COUNSELOR) to raise her.
I do believe that adoption at its heart is a reproductive choice issue. And I believe that the way adoption is done today strips women of their choices.
It’s not a fair choice when:
- People are lining up to tell you that you’re too poor, too young, too marginal to be a good parent;
- People stand to make money off of the adoption of your child;
- Motherhood is seen as a commodity that should go for the “most deserving” (i.e., highest bidder).
It’s not a fair option when it seems like the only option. It’s not a free choice unless there are truly other choices.
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It’s pretty clear to me
Apr 13, 2007 Adoption
It should be illegal for a representative of an adoption agency to set foot in a high school for business reasons EVER.
[17-year old Stephanie B]ennett signed over permanent custody of her then-4-month-old daughter in September to A Child’s Waiting, a private adoption agency in Copley Township in Summit County.
She did so without her parents’ permission or knowledge, which is legal in Ohio. But now she and her parents, Ranza and Judy Bennett, are fighting to get Evelyn back in a case that raises legal and ethical questions about the adoption process.
Their story includes accusations that a guidance counselor at GlenOak High School arranged a meeting on school grounds between the teenager and the adoption agency, and that the adoption agency urged her to run away from home so it would be easier to sign papers away from her parents.
Ranza and Judy Bennett have obtained temporary custody of Evelyn, but A Child’s Waiting has disregarded the court order and, according to the Bennetts, urged the adoptive family to keep the child hidden and not disclose their location.
–source (emphasis mine)
This is the agency. (Note: They’re also the agency responsible for this, which you may remember airing on 20/20 a couple of years ago.)
Read more about the blog blitz over at kim kim’s
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Tags: high school, wordpress
Questions & Answers
Apr 12, 2007 The Story of My Life
Questions for beloved Bacchus:
1. What’s a possession you regret leaving last time you made a major move? And what’s something you’ve never forgotten to take along?
2. When did you realize that your husband was THE one?
3. What has been the most surprising thing about fatherhood?
4. What song always brings tears to your eyes and why?
5. How does your present look compared to the future you thought you’d have when you were a teenager?
Questions for allegedly evil Karen!
1. What experiences fuel your liberalism?
2. What lesson do you most want your daughter to take from your life?
3. What’s the best concert you’ve ever been to and why?
4. What’s the hardest thing about blogging for you?
5. What do you want your life to look like in twenty years?
Aimee/Maxine — writing with two kids around? It’s more writing with these two kids around. If I’d been parenting another one like Noah, it’d be easier (but not nearly as adventurous!). I don’t think it’s the number of kids so much (although yeah, more kids = more work) as it is the kids themselves and then of course mom herself. I’m an introvert so I find busy small people just kinda hard. (You know how it is — Madison doesn’t even let me pee by myself.) I used to think I wanted four kids but hell no. Two kids is my limit! And I’m awfully glad I know that so I don’t somehow end up with more!!! In any case, I had no mothershock when Noah came along but I had it in spades with Madison. (I think this was also fueled by the adoption being such a challenge for me emotionally.)
I’m always worried about scaring people who are thinking about adding to their families so I’d just point to the all the people with more than one kid who do just swell. But from the other side, I see a lot of benefits to having an only child — both for the kid AND for the parents. Sometimes I feel bad for Madison because I think Noah had it great for seven years and I wish she had some of that.
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Ammending the previous post
Apr 11, 2007 The Story of My Life
I met Brett in 1990 not 2000. I’m such a goof. Dr. Tiff nicely pointed it out for me!
(Did I ever tell you all about a friend of Noah’s who was quite the worrier? The boys were about five, I think, and were arguing about who was older. A’s birthday is nine days before Noah’s so I settled it by saying that Noah was a week and 2 days younger. Noah was crestfallen, wanting to be the bigger kid and so was A. Why? Because, and I quote, “I was hoping Noah was older so he would be the one closer to death.” That’s me, trying to get further from death by lopping ten years off of my life! Heh.)
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Tags: Noah
Susan asked me questions
Apr 11, 2007 The Story of My Life
Because I begged. It’s part of The Interview Meme and the deal is I answer these and then if you want questions, post that you do and I’ll rack my small brain and come up with some. (But be patient with me. I’m slow to these things.)
My questions and my answers: Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: homeschool, Homeschooling, Madison, meme, Music, Noah, our agency, wordpress