Before I post about what I’ve been reading, I am honored to announce that the No Hands But Ours blog has asked if they can run my Choosing An Agency series on their blog!  Because I wrote it in four big chunks, they asked that I edit it into more manageable parts.  It is now a 10 part series and the content has been updated to include the recent changes China made to the program regarding some requirements and waivers.  The series will not include a lot of what was in my final post because it wasn’t strictly related to choosing an agency.  When the series is complete at NHBO, I will be linking to those posts on my Adoption Resources page.  I plan to write up separate posts on adopting two at once, out of birth order, older children, and adoption disruption.  You can read the first post on NHBO here, and the rest will be posted over the next few weeks.

Now onto the links!  Starting with the lighter stuff, some interesting articles on language development:

If you speak Mandarin, your brain is different

Lost first languages leave mark on the brain

China tackles illegal, prenatal sex selection– Not exactly new information but I appreciated the section at the end which acknowledged that attitudes are changing quickly in China among the younger generation.

Foreign adoptions by Americans reach lowest mark since 1982 – I’ve seen several discussions online where people theorize as to why the drop.  The most frequent causes mentioned are the rising cost of international adoption and fewer young healthy infants being available.

Now that I have finished my degree program, I have more time for leisure reading (and movie viewing, as you noticed from the last post).  I discovered my local library has a whole shelf of books on contemporary China.  I picked up Eating Bitterness, which is about China’s migrant workers.  Unlike Factory Girls, this book focuses on the personal stories of migrants who are a variety of ages.  Most are married, but a few are single.  Some live with their spouse and child/ren while others are separated because of work.  It is also a little unusual in that it is based out of Xian instead of Guangdong Province.  Once again, there are the constant themes of the generational attitude differences and the rapid change in Chinese culture in such a relatively short amount of time.  I think this book is a little easier to read than Factory Girls because of the variety of people and because, frankly, it was edited better.

Adam Crapser’s Bizarre Deportation Story – I didn’t realize until I started researching adoption that the US has imported dozens of adult adoptees over the years.  The loophole has since been closed, but because it was not retroactive, people such as Adam continue to be deported.

Fighting Back Against Post-Adoption Depression – Very honest post from Laura about her struggle with post-adoption depression which includes resources.

Second Change Adoption article – This article follows Cyndi Peck’s Second Chance Adoption service, discussing the factors that lead to disruption and how Cyndi tries to find a better placement for the children.  Long, and probably disturbing if you are new to the possible behavior issues of older children from hard places.

Marshall Island adoption article  – From Kathryn Joyce, who wrote The Child Catchers, an exposé on how tightening regulations on international adoptions have caused the Marshall Island adoption “trade” to move to the US.  The  Marshall Islands are one of many cultures which have a different and more flexible idea of adoption than the one we have in the West.  This means that people who are agreeing to give their child up for adoption do not realize it is permanent.  Another long read, but worth the time.