Blog

24
Dec

Christmas Song Recital

It Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas! The Christmas season has arrived once more. Christmas Time is Here and as all of us begin to celebrate The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, I wonder every year when thinking of the millions of children in need around the world, Do They Know It Is ...
11
Dec

Adopting Davion Only

Many of us were touched recently by 15 year old Davion Only, who bravely stood in front of St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church in St. Petersburg, Florida pleading for a forever family. It has been reported that over 10,000 individuals and families inquired about adopting Davion after his plea received national attention. Requests came in ...
10
Dec

What Is Your Child’s Attachment Style?

Attachment is such a big word in adoption. Is your child attached? Does your child have an attachment issue or even an attachment disorder? It seems like such a simple word, but it is really quite complicated. Attachment is the bond that a child has with their parents, or caregivers. Attachment occurs when a child ...
6
Dec

Nelson Mandela’s Impact on Racial Relations

Throughout his 95 years, Nelson Mandela was a political prisoner, president of South Africa, a human rights advocate, and a Nobel Peace Prize winner among many other major awards. But it wasn’t the awards or titles that made him so important. Nelson Mandela had an impact on racial relations across the globe. His goal of ...
5
Dec

The 12 Days of Giving Back

ā€œOn the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree.ā€Ā  We have all heard the song that details the twelve days of Christmas. As adoption advocates, we are giving you another way to celebrate the twelve days of Christmas. Instead of singing ladies and silver rings, we’ve ...
4
Dec

Annual Holiday Ornament Contest

It’s that time of year again! We’re putting up our tree and reminiscing over the ornaments and cards we received last year! We loved receiving the ornaments so much last year that we are asking you all to send us some more this year. It means so much to us to have a tree full ...
3
Dec

The Power of Choices and How To Share It

Sharing power is an essential principle of TBRIĀ® (Purvis, K., Cross, Dr. R., & Hurst, J.R. [2012]. Trust-Based Relational Intervention: TBRIĀ® Connecting Principles [Instructor Workbook]. Fort Worth, TX: TCU Institute of Child Development.). Children feel valued and safe knowing that their needs and wants are heard and taken into consideration. While parents must be “the ...
26
Nov

TBRIĀ® Overview Of Connecting Principles

During TBRIĀ® Training, Dr. Karen Purvis discussed five principles of connecting with a child from a hard place. The foundation for building a trusting relationship between a parent and child is through connection. TRBIĀ® Training (Purvis, K.B. & Cross, D.R. (2013, September). TBRIĀ® Professional Training Program presented by the TCU Insitute of Child Development. Training ...
25
Nov

Closure Documentary Review

Recently, I was given the opportunity to attend a local screening of the documentary Closure about a trans-racial adoptee’s search for her birth family. It can be difficult for me as a single mother to do things on a school night, but I make it a priority to learn from as many adult adoptees as ...
21
Nov

All Children Have a Human Right to a Family

The dirt road was wide and lined by corrugated metal structures housing a variety of homes and small businesses. A concrete trench ran between the structures and the road. The dust kicked up giving everything a fine brown-gray layer of dirt. People milled about, glancing curiously at us. We arrived at the end of the ...
20
Nov

Family Spotlight: The Bruvold Family

We’re so proud of and thankful for each and every one of our families, we’re giving them the chance to show off a bit. We’ll be shining the spotlight on families by letting them introduce themselves and tell us a little about why and how they got involved with adoption. Today we’re letting the Bruvold ...
19
Nov

Early Risk Factors for Sensory Deficits

Sensory issues are hard for many people to understand. You may not immediately recognize sensory issues in your child, but sensory deficits often lead to behaviors that adults find problematic. For adoptive parents, it can be confusing to recognize sensory issues and not know if they indicate prenatal exposure to drugs or alcohol, lack of ...
15
Nov

Corruption Abroad and International Adoption

It is MLJ Adoptions’ understanding that, in the near future, media attention will most likely be given to specific instances of fraud and corruption surrounding several adoptions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in which children living in orphanages, not legally free to be adopted, were adopted internationally, unbeknownst to their biological families. While ...
14
Nov

Adoption Month Photo Contest

In honor of November being National Adoption Month, we wanted to highlight you with a photo contest! Entry is easy: post a photo of you/your family/your child(ren) on our Facebook page (only one entry per family, please). That’s it! The photo can be an older one or you can take a new one just for ...
13
Nov

Older Child, the Adoptee Perspective

As we focus on older children during the month of November, we wanted to share with families the perspective of an older child who had been adopted. We interviewed Tatiana, a beautiful young girl who was adopted from Ukraine at the age of 16 along with her siblings. Tatiana and her siblings have thrived in ...
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