Adoption Stories and other adoption links

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A collection of adoption stories and other links

A few months ago I started writing my adoption story on a blog I call Ana's Miracle. Since then I've started poking around the web to find some other adoption stories and there are quite a few out there.

However I couldn't really find a a place for people to share their adoption stories. So on on this lens I will try to build a collection of adtopion related stories. If you have stories you would like to share I would love to hear them. Hope you enjoy my lens.

The Suzanne Berghaus Story 

War child who 'disappeared' finds her way back

The Boston Globe: "CACAOPERA, El Salvador -- The house was decorated with ribbons and balloons as Suzanne Berghaus walked toward it. The 26-year-old social worker from Wilmington, Mass., would later recall how beautiful the place looked with its colorful bunting and hand-lettered sign welcoming her home. 'Te Queremos Mucho,' the sign read. We love you very much.
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Valentín Argueta greeted her at the front gate. It was the first time he'd laid eyes on his youngest child in 24 years, since her kidnapping by government soldiers during El Salvador's long and bloody civil war.

Tuesday's emotionally charged reunion, occurring in a small town near the Honduran border, was more than a private homecoming. It was one of hundreds of such reunions that have taken place in El Salvador over the past decade, aided by advances in DNA matching and an intensifying campaign to bring closure to victimized families, if not justice to those who violated them long ago.

On hand to record the event was a small media contingent invited by Pro-Búsqueda , the Salvadoran organization responsible for tracking down and verifying Berghaus's birth parents. Also present were several other key players, including lead investigator Hector Berrios ; Stefan Schmitt , director of the Physicians for Human Rights forensics program, through which a DNA match was made between Berghaus and her biological parents; and Robert McAndrews , a Salem State College professor who first brought Berghaus to El Salvador last year. McAndrews was taking students on a school-sponsored trip, and Berghaus, one of his students, asked to go at the last minute, hoping to begin the search for her roots -- a search that climaxed here this week."

Continued...

Have a lens about adoption? 

Then why not join the Adoption Lenses group?

This group is for anyone who would like to share their adoption len. If you have an adoption story or lots of adoption related links this is the place for you!

My Story 

Part 1- The Adoption Story

I was adopted from an orphanage in Honduras in 1983. My adoptive parents had just started the adoption process and were probably about a year away from getting a child. Then one night they got a phone call at 9:00pm saying that there was a child available for them however there was no picture, no background information and they would have until 3:00pm the next day to decided.

I don't think this ever happens in adoption cases. Anyway thankful they decided to adopt me. They were living in the Boston area and had to get everything ready before leaving for Honduras. As they were getting ready to leave they found out that they would need FBI clear in order to travel to the country. This normally take 4 or 5 weeks and they only had 1. But to there surprise someone pulled some strings for them and they received clearance in 2 days.

They flew down to Honduras where they were provided with a place to stay and a lawyer to help them with all the paper work. This again never happens. As the adoption went on the people involved where very hush hush and wouldn't tell my parents why I was up for adoption or why they were trying to get me out of the country so fast. My adoptive father speculated that I was illegitimate sun of the president or something like that.

What they did learn was that the wife of the US ambassador to Honduras was in charge of the adoption. This explained where all the political help was coming from. They finished the adoption and took be back to the US with them.

I grew up knowing that I was adopted (My parents are white and they always told me I was.) But they couldn't tell me who my parents were or even when I was born. This was very hard for me growing up since it meant it would be next to impossible to find my birth family.

Then one day the impossible happened. My parents got an other phone call at night in the summer of 97. A man called from an organization that looked for lost children in El Salvador. It turned out I had been born there not Honduras and My family had been looking for me for 4 years.

That Christmas we flew down to meet them the for the first time. My adopted parent were nervous that I would want to stay with my birth family but that never really crossed my mind. Since then I have been down about twice a year to visit them and we have become one big family.

Part 2: The Back Story

Family pictures 

Some picture from our childhood and when we met each other for the first time.

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Ana's Miracle Blog Feed 

My Adoption story

Ana's Miracle is my adoption story of how I was separated from my family during the Civil War in El Salvador, and our journey to reunite.

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Salvadorian Civil War 

Both my story and Suzanne's story took place during the Civil War in El Salvador. Here are a few movies on the subject.

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Romero

Romero

This is a movie about Arch Bishop Romero who was m more...0 points

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Salvador (Special Edition)

Salvador (Special Edition)

Photo journalist Richard Boyle travels to El Salva more...0 points

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Innocent Voices (Voces Inocentes) [NTSC/REGION 1 & 4. IMPORT-LATIN AMERICA]

Innocent Voices (Voces Inocentes) [NTSC/REGION 1 & 4. IMPORT-LATIN AMERICA]

I have not seen this movie yet but it is a film ab more...0 points

A True Story I hope will touch the heart of Birthparents and Adoptive Parents alike 

This story comes from breenoelle85 at the Adoption.com Forums

I don't know if this post actually goes here, but I wanted to share a story concerning *my* adoption. Unlike a few unfortunate adoptees who didn't find out until later, I have *always* known about my adoption. At the age of 3, I understood that I had grown inside my birthmother's *tummy* and was adopted by my "Mom and Dad."

The story I want to share took place when I was just three-year-old. (My mother told me about it while her and Dad were getting divorced.) On that particular day, Mom was in the living room cleaning, when I came up walking up the hallway. I walked up and told her I needed to talk to her about something. We sat down on the couch, and as I remember it, she wasn't really paying attention to me. She was looking towards the kitchen (probably think of chores and stuff.)

So, I place my 3-year-old hands on either side of her face and turn it so that she is looking me in the eyes. Then (according to her) I said, "Mommy, when I was still my in birthmother's tummy, God was with me and he spoke to me. He said that he heard you crying, and that you needed me. He made sure my birthmother would chose you. That's why she couldn't keep me."

So, yeah....now that I'm bawling like a little kid, I'm going to leave this message for you. At three-years-old, I didn't even know what "J-E-S-U-S" spelt (or who he was for that matter, and I thought people who died turned into angels who watched over us.... My parents were, in general, very very "secular." I was 7 or 8 years old before a friend invited me to Sunday School for the first time.

So, you can judge for yourselves where you want to believe the words that came out of my mouth came from. I know where I think it came from, but either way. . . the message I got out of it was this:

If you are an adopted parent, you didn't chose us; God chose us for you. If you are one of the ones who can't have children (like my Mom), God here's your pain and has a child out there just for you. And if you are a birthparent, do not feel guilty because you *gave us away.* You did your job as a parent by chosing *not* to abort the life God placed inside of you. And try not to worry because you don't know where we are. God knows even if you don't. . .

God Bless All!

~Noelle

Original post on Adoption.com

Flickr pictures tagged "Adoption" 

POV in Wikipedia by mobology

POV in Wikipedia

Pete and Happy by Aine D

Pete and Happy

One more? by Aine D

One more?

Heading home by Aine D

Heading home

New friends by Aine D

New friends

Sharpie by Aine D

Sharpie

Happy by Aine D

Happy

caged by zenobia_joy

caged

Yammer Case Study Info by cambodia4kidsorg

Yammer Case Study In...

Banjo is up for adoption! by lindyireland

Banjo is up for adop...

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Adoption Video 

I tried to find a few videos on diffrerent adoption related stories and topics.

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Our adoption trip to Cambodia 0 points

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Transracial Adoption: ColorsNW February Story 0 points

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Our Adoption - Hunan, China 0 points

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Haiti adoption trip #1 0 points

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Lonely... This Girls Adoption 0 points

Books on adoption 

I haven't read any of these but I looked for books that would be useful and had very good customer reviews.

by mcescobar1

What can I say my life has been pretty amazing. I was born during the civil war in El Salvador and was lost to my family. Adopted to America, I was re...

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