Gladney Blog

We have new files of children from Taiwan. And I sort of kind of fell in love as soon as  open Autumn's file. I'm going to have to get a little creative with the photos to be able to share them here, but that is why you need to join our private Facebook group where we can post pictures we cannot post publicly. We are planning to be able to meet Autumn when we go to Taiwan in April, but I didn't want to wait that long to introduce her here. This little one is cute, cute, cute!

Divya will age out in December. We need a family to step forward right away for this lovely girl! She has no known health needs. She is described as being very smart even though she has not had a lot of education.

"We Can't Fix Grief"

Mary Kathryn Nader, LPC, and Emily Morehead, LPC have a conversation about grief in the first episode of the podcast reFRAMED. Grief over a death; a loss of culture through an international adoption; a loss of a birth child through placing a child for adoption; a loss of caretakers and family life as we know it through removal by Child Protection Services.

We are thrilled to introduce you to reFRAMED, a podcast presented by the Gladney Center for Adoption. Our podcast is for adoptive parents, therapists, clinicians, educators, and other professionals who have a love for children and a desire to meet their needs.

We give the children we advocate for advocacy names for privacy purposes. While the names are significant to the children, they do hold some level of meaning to us since thats how we refer to the children we advocate for. This morning I needed a name for a little girl and saw that the meaning of her Chinese name is light. So I did a quick Google search and found a list of names meaning light. I ended up choosing Ciana for her. I have never heard it before, but I just loved it! I think it fits her.

Read the latest information about Gladney's China and Taiwan's adoption program in the February 2019 Gladney Newsletter.

Sitting here at my desk at the same adoption organization my parents came to is so surreal.  Being a Social Work intern at Gladney right now is so special because it allows me to connect with where my new life with my family began.  As a future social worker, my goal is to help others on their adoption journeys and support all members of the adoption triad.  I just finished a big personal project of mine which was publishing my book called Through Adopted Eyes: A Collection of Memoirs from Adoptees – which includes my own thoughts and perspective on adoption as a Russian adoptee.  The book also includes the emotional and amazing stories of 50 other adoptees and talks about the best and worst things about being an adoptee and what adoptees wish others knew.  These adoptees of all different ages have differing backgrounds, perspectives, and adoptee insight. 

Oh sweet little Martin! How we love seeing you when we visit Taiwan! 

I think I could just post Penny's pictures and call it a day. She is just that precious! I think someone is going to see her and their heart is going to say, "There she is!" And that will be that.

MATCHED!!

We were able to meet with sweet, 10 year old, Archie again during our visit in the fall. Archie has been living in the same foster family since he was an infant, and it’s clear he has a good relationship with his foster mother. She told us that he is a polite, considerate, gentle boy who helps to care for the younger foster brother in the home.