New Organization to Probe Adoption Abuses 111507

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(PRLog.Org) – Nov 14, 2007 – The Baby Scoop Era Research Initiative, also known as BSERI, was founded in October 2007 by two mothers, Karen Wilson-Buterbaugh and Barbara Franks-Morra. Both lost newborns to adoption during this period.

Franks-Morra explained that maternity homes radically changed after 1945. As social workers took over management from altruistic religious organizations, homes that had once sheltered single mothers and prepared them to raise their children began instead to promote closed, stranger adoption.

Wilson-Buterbaugh stated, “The social work profession brought a psychological bias to their work with single mothers. They introduced the untested notion that single mothers were ‘neurotic’ and could be cured by taking their babies. This idea radically altered the outcomes for single mothers during this period. These practices persisted through 1972, when the number of domestic adoptions began to drop dramatically.”

“These homes, which were sometimes little more than reformatories, often used coercive practices such as shaming, blaming, and removing or withholding babies from new mothers to force adoptions. Mothers were then told to ‘go on with their lives’ as if nothing had happened. Obviously this was impossible for most of them.”

Franks-Morra said, “We demand acknowledgement of the historical truth surrounding past adoption practices in the United States. We demand recognition for the millions of women who were systematically denied their inalienable right to raise their infant sons and daughters.”

“The Baby Scoop Era has become a footnote in American social history, except to the mothers who survived these practices. These women have carried into their adult lives burdens of worry, grief, pain and a corrosive secret. The lifelong consequences of these forced adoptions are still operating in the lives of millions of American women.”

For more information, www.babyscoopera.com or email bseri@babyscoopera.com

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The National Council for Adoption is DoA 11107

By Jessica DelBalzo

Every October, the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute presents various adoption supporters with the "Angels in Adoption" award. These prestigious awards are received by organizations and individuals whose commitment to family desecration has been proven time and again. Confident that they have had a hand in destroying the lives of more parents and children than their colleagues, recipients are proud to proclaim themselves "angels in adoption."

This year, Pound Pup Legacy decided it was time for a change. Just in time for November, America's National Adoption Awareness Month, PPL is ready to announce the unfortunate winner of its first annual Demons of Adoption Award. Nominees include:

* Adoption.com for being a big business with international forums that ban members who vocalize any negative views about adoption.

* The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, for acting as though individuals and organizations that threaten family preservation are deserving of support and praise.

* The Council on Accreditation, for the dubious conflict of interest caused by including pro-adoption lobbyists on its board.

* The National Safe Haven Alliance, for advocating infant abandonment and ignoring the real problems that contribute to infanticide and abandonment.

* The NYC Administration for Children's Services, for not checking up on Judith Leekin.

All of these contenders put up an admirable fight, but they were unable to beat out the infamous lobbying arm of the United States adoption industry, the National Council for Adoption. True to its name, the NCFA is an unabashedly pro-adoption organization. Formerly managed by the infamously anti-open-records Bill Pierce, this vulgar group is now manned by Tom Atwood. He may have a new name and a new face, but he presents the same anti-family points of view as his predatory predecessor.

Among the DoA-worthy sins committed by the National Council for Adoption are:

* The conception and implementation of the Infant Adoption Awareness Training Program. IAATP is a government-funded course which instructs pregnancy professionals in the art of adoption coercion. The goal? To procure even more infants to meet the demands of prospective adopters.

* The promotion of irresponsible and hurtful adoption terminology unfittingly named Positive Adoption Language. PAL includes such disparaging qualifiers as "birth" and "biological" in reference to parents who have or are considering surrendering a child for adoption, as well as the very deceptive term "adoption plan" to describe a mother?s surrender.

* The legislative support of Safe Haven Laws. These laws dangerously allow anonymous infant abandonment, leaving children without their medical records, family history, and most importantly, family members. They fail to adequately protect parents, grandparents, and other relatives who may wish to raise the abandoned child. Additionally, Safe Haven Laws have shown themselves to be ineffective in preventing unsafe abandonment and addressing the psychological and social issues that contribute to abandonment.

* The presentation of open records as a violation of parental privacy rights. Despite exiled mothers of the Baby Scoop Era railing against the NCFA's claims that they were promised confidentiality and do not want to reunite with their adult children, the NCFA continues to uses these mothers in its campaign to keep adoption records sealed.

In short, the NCFA is this years Demons of Adoption Award recipient because of the measures it has taken to increase the number of adopted infants, promote adoption among marginalized pregnant women, and continue the abuse of families separated by past adoptions. The bottom line is that the National Council for Adoption wants nothing more than to help its supporters line their pockets with money accrued through predatory adoption practices. With the presentation of this, the very first DoA Award, Pound Pup Legacy is pleased to announce the tarnishing of the NCFA's already bent and broken halo. Remember, lurking within every "adoption angel" is a demon just waiting to be exposed.

Origins USA Announces New Site 102507

Submitted by Mirah Riben.

Origins-USA, a national non-profit organization dedicated to promoting Natural Family Preservation and supporting families separated by adoption, is proud to announce that our newly reformatted website has moved to its permanent location on the Internet. Our new web address is http:///www.Origins-USA.org.

There have been many exciting changes as Origins-USA continues to move forward making positive strides toward our goals. Read about our work in family preservation advocacy and forthcoming events for National Adoption BEWARENESS Month. November 10th is RegDay. This is an annual event to increase public awareness of the International Soundex Reunion Registry; a free humanitarian service better known as ISRR. ISRR is a non-profit mutual consent registry dedicated to reuniting adult family members separated by adoption, divorce, or other dislocation. November 30th concludes National Adoption Month featuring a Strange and Mournful Day at Origins-USA.org.

You will also see information for joining one or both of our new email lists, for support and/or activism, and be sure to check out the latest issue of our newsletter: Mothers in Action!

Please be sure to change all of your bookmarks, links, and any place you have our web address in print to read: Origins-USA.org.

Unlearning Adoption: A Review 02407

by Niels H., co-founder of PoundPupLegacy.org

Jessica DelBalzo has written an important book with the inspiring title "Unlearning Adoption", in which she unravels the workings of the adoption industry, the consequences thereof and alternatives to it.

The book starts explaining how the language used by the adoption industry, labeled "Positive Adoption Language", is a deliberate attempt at influencing the public opinion. Jessica DelBalzo then demonstrates what honest adoption language can be like, an approach she uses throughout the book. Wherever she criticizes the adoption industry she offers well thought of alternatives.

"Unlearning Adoption" is an anti-adoption book and though radical in stance, its recommendations and advice are much less radical than the doings of the adoption industry it criticizes. In chapters about past adoption practices, adoption today, foster care adoption and abandonment laws, DelBalzo unravels the workings of the adoption industry, coming full circle with adoption in the media. She covers the demand side pressures of the market place, the myth of open adoption, the reality of Safe Haven laws, the modern incarnations of maternity homes.

The second part of the book deals with the effects of adoption on both adoptees and parents, addressing subjects like attachment, identity formation, crime and substance abuse, post traumatic stress disorder, anger and trust issues. Jessica DelBalzo's portrayal of the consequences of adoption are in stark contrast to the image the adoption industry tries to create, much more disturbing and much more in demand of radical change. That change she describes at the end of her book, looking beyond the borders of the USA, giving an account of Australian inquiries of child placement practices and the following decline of adoption. She addresses open records in Scandinavia and many other countries, Teen pregnancy prevention in the USA compared to other rich western countries and family support measures around the globe.

She returns to the USA, the book predominantly focussing on America, by giving an account of the various adoption reform and abolishment movements, rounding it all off with alternatives to adoption, giving practical advice on how to avoid the grip of the adoption industry on pregnant women, but she also promotes the notion of legal guardianship, in cases where out-placement indeed is in the best interest of a child.

"Unlearning Adoption" is surprisingly complete, given its compact size of 130 pages. That makes it an easy to read and quick introduction to the material. Fortunately Jessica DelBalzo has added many references to websites for those interested in more in depth information. Of course for a book that aims to be an introduction, she is forced to scratch only the surface at times. That does not compromise the depth of her insight, but requires the reader to either read up on the subject or take her words at face value.

Having spent a lot of effort reading up and investigating adoption myself, I would have liked the book to be much more detailed, though that is, understandably, not its aim. As an introduction "Unlearning Adoption" is excellent; it covers much ground and displays a deep knowledge of the subject. This is the material mother's and fathers to be should be informed about and social workers and therapists should be knowledgeable of.

Welcome to A.P.F.P. News!

Welcome to the Adoption Prevention & Family Preservation News Blog. Here, you can expect to find news and information pertaining to the anti-adoption movement, as well as press releases from activist organizations like Adoption: Legalized Lies, Pound Pup Legacy, and Adoption Crossroads.

Anyone is welcome to submit a news release to our site. All we ask is that your release be relevant to the blog and written with honest adoption language. Book and event announcements, editorials, and other submissions are appreciated!

Please email all press releases, and include any contact information you would like printed with your release.