OPAN

A journalist from stuff.co.nz has contacted OPAN regarding a feature she is writing on adoption in New Zealand.

The feature will look at adoption in depth and will focus on many different aspects – from open adoption and inter-country adoption to adoption legislation.

She would like to talk to a Wellington-based family about their experience with open adoption.  This would include meeting the family and their child and also the birth-parents of the child, and speaking with them all about their experience with open adoption.

This is a great opportunity to share your story with New Zealanders and help demystify adoption for many readers.

The feature will run in late December/early January on stuff.co.nz and possibly in a number of Fairfax papers, including The Dominion Post and The Press.

If you are interested in taking part, please contact Michelle.Cooke@stuff.co.nz.

Last year CYF announced it’s new Ways to Care programme.  As we understand it, Ways to Care is basically a combining of the Adoption and Homes for Life (previously known as Permanent Placement) programmes.

With the large number of children in foster care waiting for permanent parents via Homes for Life, and the large numbers of applicants waiting on very small numbers of babies for adoption – this seems to make obvious sense.

We’d love to hear from anyone currently progressing through the workshops and application processes for Ways to Care (Adoption and/or Homes for Life), or if you have been lucky enough to start a family via the new programme.  I’ve started a topic in the Forum about Ways To Care, please leave your comments here.

Further reading:

• NZ Herald Article – Help to make foster care permanent (12/8/2010)
• CYF – A Home for Life (I found this newsletter on the CYF website, unfortunately they don’t have a Ways to Care section on their website as yet).

On a Related Note:
I found this US advert for Adoption on YouTube.  The Dave Thomas Foundation looks like it does great work in the US.  It looks like NZ may be following a similar path to the US (except with different terminology).

Radio Rhema has a themed radio talkback show on Sunday nights from 7 – 9pm called “Talk about Life” hosted by Stephen Tetley-Jones. This week’s topic is open adoption.

While we’re at it, a couple of other adoption in the media articles you may have missed…

NZ Herald: People Looking Overseas for Babies (29/5/2011).  This article is mainly about inter-country adoption, but also provides a rather depressing quote from CYF: “…the number of domestic adoptions has fallen 40 per cent in five years.”

Winnipeg Free Press: Joni Mitchell inspires adoption fantasy (9/6/2011).  On a lighter note (and because I’m a big Joni Mitchell and Dolly Parton fan.)

In case you missed it, there was an excellent article in the Sunday Star Times last May (2010) featuring adoption. The couple mentioned at the beginning (David and Anna), are OPAN members and they have generously provided us with a PDF version of the article for you to read.

Sunday Star Times Article