Clearly I’m out enjoying the summer instead of writing blog posts. Here’s some summer reading for you.

I mentioned in my Choosing An Agency series that you should ask an agency’s policy on pregnancy during the process because some don’t let you continue if you should become pregnant. One agency with this policy writes about their reasons for having it.

NHBO features a story from a parent who experienced a difficult transition after adopting an older child but through a long road of hard work was able to integrate their daughter into their family.

Elizabeth Curry has blogged her annotated reading list on trauma. It’s such a wonderful resource that I added it to the updated version of my book. If you are looking to expand your knowledge beyond The Connected Child, look for suggestions here.

Holt’s blog featured a look at life in an area of northern China where the poorest people live in caves. It’s a feature story geared towards increasing child sponsorships through their agency but I found it interesting reading, regardless.

WACAP’s blog features an adult adoptee’s perspective on “Gotcha Day.”

Another WACAP blog post breaks down waiting children by age, special needs, and addresses other issues such as trauma. Kudos to them for moving beyond the kind of “orphan problems would be solved if everyone brought home one adorable baby” stereotype that I often see from agencies.

Andrea Olson guest blogs at NHBO about their family’s preference to adopt a girl and how that changed over time.

NHBO also had a great interview with Amy Eldridge of Love Without Boundaries. Be sure to read Amy’s thoughts on care packages.

Many families are caught off guard by oral adversion–feeding difficulties that often come with older children who were never fed solid foods. NHBO has a detailed personal experience here.

As I have mentioned before in my post on considering which special needs to be open to, few parents are open to needs which involved disordered sexual development. This family shares their personal experience in adopting a child with the special need of ambiguous genitalia which later turned out to be diagnosed as hypospadias.

On the Holt blog you can read interviews with children who were adopted at an older age about what that experience was like from their point of view.

Since China is requiring more couples have a psychological evaluation now, I wanted to share the website of a doctor recommended by many in the adoption community who does distance evaluations quickly for a reasonable fee.

The Donaldson Adoption Institute discusses dissolutions prompted by the State Department’s 2015 report which showed that 59 children adopted from other countries ended up in state care.

Speaking of which, the 2016 report is now available.

The Economist has an article discussing the Han majority and Chinese identity.

At Adoption.com the article Meeting Your Child discusses typical reactions of children on adoption day.

A gallery of Qing Dynasty photos from China before the Communist revolution.

Finally, thanks to Rainbow Kids for featuring the Post Adoption Documents post on their website.