Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Feb 4, 2011, 11:02 am
Two interesting articles which I am going to link together, not because they “go” together exactly but because they examine the way in which children’s fates may be determined by cultural priorities. At the new black magazine, Rosemary E. Ekosso, author and interpreter at the International Co...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Jan 30, 2011, 2:15 pm
A Utah woman who tortured her 4-year-old adopted child by making her sit on a bar stool with her hands tied behind her back and drink so much water she died of “water intoxication” feels she should be let out prison to mother her remaining biological children. Her husband feels he’s a bumbling...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Jan 30, 2011, 12:11 pm
About a-parents looking for the parents of their Chinese children: “I still think it’s only 20% that are really looking. I believe 80% are still avoiding the fact that their children are Chinese.” - Jane Liedtke (Personally, I think 10% and under are looking.)
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Jan 21, 2011, 1:52 pm
Two newish adoption columns I was unaware of until recently—almost quaint in their refusal to deal with any substantive issues involving corruption in international adoption (although Portrait has some nice entries about other adoption-related topics): The Red Thread: An Adoptive Family Forum fo...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Jan 17, 2011, 4:34 pm
The Chinese “online mall” Taobao (user-base: 370 million people) has a new ad out promoting the “Taobao Trip” (functioning sort of like Expedia). It offers travelers one-stop shopping for flights, hotels, and other travel services. The company hopes to encourage travelers to book now for Chi...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Jan 14, 2011, 12:57 am
This is a recent graduating class of the highschool DD will be at next year, just a few blocks from our home. Click once to enlarge. A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people. *           I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows ...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Jan 9, 2011, 5:43 pm
Those would be my ignorant questions. I think I said over a year ago that I wanted to write a post on this subject but it’s taken me until now to figure out what to say. So here goes. In theory, open adoption sounds great because “openness” sounds great. Open adoption acknowledges that some p...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Jan 1, 2011, 9:42 pm
Happy 2011, everyone. I made this soup for New Year’s Eve, and we all enjoyed it, despite DD’s protestations that I “put stuff” in it—and she was right and she guessed well. At least, she guessed the lemon zest. This soup also features my favourite dried herb of the moment: coriander. If...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Dec 29, 2010, 4:40 pm
Poignant doesn’t begin to cover it, probably. Makes me want to laugh and cry at once. Two little boys in a sex ed class at the Hepingli No. 1 Primary School in Beijing wear their backpacks on their bellies to simulate pregnancy. Courtesy ChinaSMACK. Not much into writing anything. Yesterday was ...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Dec 18, 2010, 7:39 pm
The state of international adoption awareness on Soompi: yellow_dell13  asks: Im adopted from South Korea to the USA and I would wonder how people view adoption. Some people look down on adoption by saying its not right to raise kids that arnt yours or that your taking the child away from their c...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Dec 16, 2010, 8:41 pm
Note: This is familiar territory to regular readers. I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network blogging program, for a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here. I was in the kitchen because I remember staring down...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Dec 12, 2010, 4:07 pm
Here’s a round-up of pics from dog shows that have taken place recently in Europe and Asia. All photos from xinhuanews.com Just click on ‘em to enlarge. From a dog show in Hangzhou, capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province, on December 11 (I was sorry not to see any Chow-Chows–animals lik...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Dec 10, 2010, 11:15 pm
From the Globe and Mail: Native children are languishing in state care in unthinkable numbers, far higher than ever lived in residential schools at any one time. Canada remains so traumatized by the “sixties scoop,” the widespread adoption of native children into white homes, that it allows the...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Dec 9, 2010, 10:32 am
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Dec 6, 2010, 1:19 pm
Clinical psychologist and author Jean Mercer is being sued for a second time by Virginia psychologist Ronald S. Federici. A phone call this morning alerted her to the fact the lawsuit had been filed but she hasn’t yet been served. Nonetheless, she is fairly certain that it pertains to a case she ...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Dec 5, 2010, 9:45 pm
Note: Disturbing content but few details and no disturbing images or links to any. ACTAsia for Animals and 40 other Chinese animal protection organisations have signed a statement protesting the latest crush fetish film to emerge from China, this time from Heilongjiang. Crush fetish is a sexual p...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Dec 2, 2010, 1:05 pm
Are you fretting over the fact that your adopted child from China has an English name? Do you regret your decision to sever your child from her linguistic roots . . . or at the very least . . . her phonemes of origin? Buck up. I have some good news for you. But before I begin, let me say that I do...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Nov 24, 2010, 11:11 pm
A team of filmmakers is trying to make a film called “Finding Home” about China’s problem of kidnapped and stolen children. Since the implementation of the One Child Policy, many children in China have been stolen or kidnapped and sold by criminal gangs to new families who want a boy or a gir...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Nov 18, 2010, 2:36 pm
Parents picture kids are sitting by the orphanage window, dreaming about getting a loving family who will never, never leave them. But it’s just not true. Most of these kids don’t even know what family is.”                                            ...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Nov 9, 2010, 9:09 pm
Something that you should know about X is that she has never stopped trying to solve the mystery of herself.* ** I met her when she was 29 and by then she had seen many counselors, intake workers and child psychologists, though it took her years to say out loud that she had been removed from her par...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Oct 27, 2010, 12:44 pm
I’ve avoided saying much about Jenny McCarthy and her inane theories which have now been largely debunked. My avoidance is due to people like this who stay on top of the research and share it in clear language the blogger Gonzogalore, who first noted that writing about bleaching your asshole auto...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Oct 20, 2010, 8:50 am
In a week or two I hope to feature a review of Rachael Stryker’s new book The Road to Evergreen, which traces the beginnings of the Russian adoption program and follows the stories of several American couples who sought treatment for their children’s “disturbing” behaviour in Evergreen, Colo...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Oct 19, 2010, 3:31 pm
Sort of misses the point. An apology to unwed mothers who were forced to give up their children shortly after birth in public hospitals would not leave the WA government open to compensation claims, Health Minister Kim Hames said. Single mothers from around the country affected by the aggressive a...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Oct 19, 2010, 9:33 am
For those who would like to continue the discussion inadvertently launched here, go to ChildMyths and see this post. Post your comments, reflections, objections, questions, whatever.
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Oct 15, 2010, 8:21 pm
Ok, Glamour informs me this afternoon that I could use this. I agree. I think we all could. Maybe even the guys. Happy weekend. Reverse French Manicure. Me likey.
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Oct 15, 2010, 5:28 pm
I first saw this picture in Sara Dorow’s book Transnational Adoption: A Cultural Economy of Race, Gender, and Kinship. The caption reads: My adopted daughter’s wish is my command. The sentence that opens the accompanying paragraph reads: I am moved by my daughter’s inability to do anything ...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Oct 11, 2010, 10:39 am
Here is the interview with Dr. Jean Mercer that we promo’d on October 6. Sit on a comfy chair because she shared a lot of information. Dr. Mercer is the author of Child Development: Myths and Misunderstandings and Understanding Attachment: Parenting, Child Care, and Emotional Development. She blog...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Oct 6, 2010, 5:44 pm
Please tune in on October 12 when I’ll be running an interview with psychologist, author, and columnist Jean Mercer. Dr. Mercer will help us navigate the complex waters of attachment, and separate the scientifically based from the befuddled and unsafe. Please join us. Dr. Mercer might be able to ...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Oct 2, 2010, 1:55 pm
British Columbia native Ian McLatchie talks about meeting the man who became his father as a teen. Turned out he worked for the CBC and was a writer and filmmaker whose work McLatchie already knew. And the guy just lived down street. But there’s more. Read it here.
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Sep 28, 2010, 11:42 am
Bastardette made this comment on my last post and I thought it was definitely worth pulling out and examining in more detail: I’ve never seen a childrens adoption book that makes any sense, though I admit I’ve only seen ones on sale at the AAC. Thank heavens no such books existed when I was a k...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Sep 24, 2010, 8:21 am
So there’s a parent trying to help another parent decide whether they should do a birthparent search. I’m disguising a few things here but the gist of it is that the child was abandoned around age 4 and remembers an older sister and a baby brother. Several years later, she was adopted. ...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Sep 22, 2010, 9:00 pm
So I’m really pretty happy with the way this one turned out. DD and I are doing the low-carb thing this fall and we bought two great cookbooks a few weeks ago—Easy Low-Carb Cooking and Low-Carb Quick & Easy. This recipe experimentation started with one book’s recipe for mushroom soup, ...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Sep 22, 2010, 3:54 pm
This is a fantastic article from the New York Times on how some Afghan families choose to dress one or more of their girls as boys so that they can move about more freely outside, go to school without getting poisoned or shot, and guard their sisters who continue to dress like girls. View the video ...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Sep 17, 2010, 10:53 am
There is no intent here to render any judgment on the content of these blogs. Nor is there any intent to minimize the seriousness of the issues discussed therein. Accept that this is purely about words. And purely opinionated. If someone wants to say my blog has a stupid name and makes them think...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Sep 15, 2010, 10:04 am
Foreign Policy has attached many documents on page 5 of E. J. Graff’s new piece on the Vietnamese adoption crisis which ultimately resulted in the program being shut down. If you don’t have time to read the whole article, you could just go to this page to get an excellent feel for how t...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Sep 13, 2010, 12:59 pm
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Sep 12, 2010, 6:02 pm
This week’s (September 20) People Magazine includes a profile of teen couple Catelynn and Tyler, stars of the MTV Reality Show 16 and Pregnant. The couple has what is being described as a “semi-open adoption” with Brandon and Teresa from North Carolina. Baby Carly was born 16 months ago. ...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Sep 2, 2010, 5:38 pm
Margie has a good post up about the feelings of new adoptive parents and the whole Scott Simon-NPR thing. She is so right. There is love, this huge love, which makes forgetting easy. People adopting from countries where they are matched with babies or get to “select” children from an orphanage d...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Aug 29, 2010, 11:56 am
The documentary Sex in a Cold Climate is 12 years old, and was originally shown on Britain’s Channel 4. It explores the stories of four Irish women interred in the infamous Magdalene asylums, workhouses for “wayward women” run by the Catholic nuns in Ireland and other European coun...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Aug 21, 2010, 3:49 pm
An Irish adoptee now living in Philadelphia has filed a class action suit in US court against the multinational drug giant GlaxoSmithKline for experimenting with a 4-in-1 vaccine on the children of Irish single mothers in the 1960s. Mari Steed, 50, is also suing the Catholic convent  where her un...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Aug 12, 2010, 4:44 pm
Yeah, I know I haven’t posted much. It’s been crazy here and we moved and all there is to say about that is– Moving is hell. Today the girl’s bed arrived damaged from the Urban Brick too, after she waited patiently for it for close to 6 weeks. Still, our new place is pretty...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Jul 16, 2010, 1:13 am
We went to see Despicable Me this afternoon and I’m not sure what all the fuss is about. Yup, it’s a film with an adoption theme but it does not show adoption “in a bad light” and its main character has a terrible relationship with his own Mommy if we’re actually keeping score here. There...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Jul 14, 2010, 9:20 pm
So how were the last two weeks? What were your low points? What were your highs? Did you solve any problems you had with plotting or characterization? Do you feel like your story might be of interest to anyone but yourself and your Grade 7 composition teacher? I am NOT at that stage yet and a...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Jul 8, 2010, 8:48 pm
Check it out. Not making any claims for it one way or the other but can’t say I was wild about the trailer. Wo Ai Ni Mommy is the story of Faith, formerly Fang Sui Yong, adopted by Donna Sadowsky of Long Island, N.Y. It will be presented on POV, PBS’s award-winning non-fiction showcase...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Jun 23, 2010, 7:29 am
Well, let’s just wade right in, shall we. In thinking about writing challenges, this is one of my bigger ones. It should not be an either-or question, yet it becomes one so easily. I think that’s mostly because we are encouraged to plan fiction books before we write them, and when you p...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Jun 18, 2010, 4:48 pm
OK, it’s the product of a conservative agenda (as soon as I flipped to page ii, there was marriage defender Maggie Gallagher); they paint a fairly rosy picture of adoption while carefully scrutinizing every challenge of growing up with a “donor Dad” . . . AND their main point seems to be (...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Jun 16, 2010, 8:01 pm
My daughter turned 13 yesterday, something of a milestone. So this seems like the ideal opportunity to share with you how O Solo Mama will be going in a different direction over the next months. To be honest, I’ve thought of pulling the plug several times. I’m weary of adoption—fully ...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Jun 11, 2010, 1:45 pm
A wonderful interview on GirlDrive (“it’s a roadtrip, a blog and a book”) from guest blogger Julie Block with Life Unexpected creator Liz Tigelaar, who is adopted. I’d like to quote some of the interview that deals with fathers, as this subject comes up now and then, like here, wher...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - Jun 3, 2010, 1:34 pm
It sounds at first like a half-assed backwards way to do anything but Sally Maslansky’s article in the HuffPo, which has now been linked to by a couple of bloggers, says essentially that. In order to understand your adopted child and, more specifically—in order to understand yourself reactin...
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Jessica P. posted an article on O Solo Mama - May 29, 2010, 8:17 pm
Asked at FindLegalAdvice.com Some time ago. Doesn’t matter when. I’ve often wondered about this. Our son is not legally ours yet we just have to wait for the red tape but has been living with us for almost 2 months and everyone loved him and treated him like the angel he is. But since ...
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