by Amit Mehta

Birth records pertain to documents that are created at the time of birth of a person. You can find the date of birth, the place of birth, and the names of the parents as well as the doctor who handled the birth of the child.

Birth certificates are usually issued within a span of six months after the birth. The county clerk’s office or the health department is usually the government institution that will keep copies of birth documents in a given location.

People primarily access birth records as part of one’s search for his/her genealogy. These records are known as eyewitness accounts, the earliest and most accurate record of someone’s birth, recognized for having been around since the early 1900s. And for many people, birth documents can help one fill in the missing spaces in one’s family tree or determine the rightful heir or ancestor to someone’s estate.

Aside from adoption records, birth records can also be an excellent resource for finding one’s birth parents. They can also help you trace where your original hometown is and determine if there are still any locals who you may be related to or who were acquainted with any of your relatives. Whether you are piecing together your family history or conducting research on someone else’s family for a book or an article, retrieving birth documents is the most obvious start off point. More

by Alan Sharpe

When my wife and I decided on baby adoption as a way to build our family, we discovered that whether you adopt through an adoption agency or go private, adopt a child internationally (China or Guatemala, let’s say) or domestically, you go through 12 basic steps.

Step 1. You begin by learning about your options.
You discover who can adopt in your state or province, what age you must be, how many years you must be married to be eligible (if at all), what kinds of children are available, and so on.

Step 2. You decide what kind of adoption you want.
Next, you pick the type and method of adoption you want. You choose between a domestic adoption and an international adoption. And you decide if you will adopt privately, through your government-run children’s protective services agency, or through an adoption agency.

Step 3. You find the money, or at least start.
International adoption is expensive, and private adoption can cost a fair amount as well. During this stage, you look at options for financing your adoption (loans, second mortgage, second job, grants, fundraisers). More

Ever said something you wish you hadn’t said, performed the proverbial “stick you foot into your mouth.” Well that happened to L. A. Times writer Leslie Gornstein where she “stuck her foot so far into her mouth with the recent “How to Shop for Kids the Brangelina Way” article, I suspect she’ll be eating via G-tube for the rest of her life. But only if the angry mob doesn’t get ahold of her, first.” She may have thought it was fun, or that everyone can make fun of clelbrities and have a good laugh, “but the tongue-in-cheek piece about the possible countries Angelina Jolie’s next tot will likely hail from has adult adoptees and adoptive parents fuming—with good reason. The flip comments, the equating of adoption with picking out a new pair of shoes… this is supposed to be journalism?”

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Last year I asked our forum members to submit their thoughts about fathers. I received many heartfelt responses - both about good fathers and fathers I didn’t even know…

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