The adoption tax credit is a topic that is discussed very frequently on adoption forums, among adoptive parents and within adoption agencies. Unfortunately, most of those discussions are due to people’s confusion about the credit and it’s difficult to get straight answers about it unless you’re an accountant or have one who truly understands it. It can be extremely confusing because it is not a tax deduction, that most of us are familiar with. A tax credit works differently and can provide you with some reimbursement of your adoption expenses.

The adoption tax credit is a... more

As I posted about a few days ago, the Joint Council on International Children’s Services is holding a summit to discuss the state of adoptions in Viet Nam. They have just announced the details of the summit and I thought it would be of interest to many readers of this blog. If you are a prospective adoptive parents (PAP) who is currently adopting from Viet Nam and haven’t heard about this summit from your agency, I would recommend contacting them. It is so important that all agencies attend, and I would be incredibly shocked if there are any that choose... more

I’m sure you’re going to be seeing lots of posts about it being National Adoption Awareness Month around here, because it’s something we all can celebrate! This national event started off as a way to increase awareness about the need for adoptive families for children in the foster care system in the United States. It’s focus is still on adoption from foster care, but all adoptive families can spread awareness for adoption in general as well.

National Adoption Awareness Month started in 1990 and has been gaining steam ever since. As the number of adoptive families in our country... more

While digging around online, I came across a few events this month that I thought would be of interest to those of us with Vietnamese kids (or those in the process of adopting.) The art exhibits are on the west coast, but we can all tune in our radio to learn more about Operation Babylift. If you know of any events that would interest readers, please don’t hesitate to share :)

Operation Babylift Radio Program – Lana Noone will be interviewed on October 24th at 11:00 am about Viet Nam’s Operation Babylift. Operation Babylift took place in 1975 when over 2000 children were evacuated out of war torn Viet Nam to be adopted by families world wide. Her interview will be... more

While we were out of town last month I picked up an issue of Oprah’s “O” Magazine. I was looking for something light to pass the time as we traveled mile after mile on our journey. I did not expect to find a quote from Dr. Phil that I instantly knew was blog-worthy, but that is just what I found

Apparently Dr. Phil McGraw (author and talk show host of the daytime “Dr. Phil” show) writes a regular column in Oprah’s magazine where readers write in with questions and he answers them in a Dear Abby fashion. On his show, McGraw has done his best to become a straight talkin’,... more

Even before I had kids I liked the children’s cartoon show Arthur. Ok, maybe that’s a weird think to admit, but I really have liked the show for a long time. Since coming into the adoption world I learned that there was once an Arthur episode that included a statement about “real parents” that created a bit of an uproar in the adoptive parent community. Today, however, Arthur is redeeming itself with a two part show that celebrates adoption.

“Big Brother Binky, parts one and two” will follow Binky’s experiences... more

If you need to apply for a new passport or even apply for a renewal on an expired passport, please be sure to do so as far in advance of your anticipated travel date as possible. The United States is still facing a backlog of passport applications that has caused serious delays that are affecting many would be travelers.

New rules were implemented in January that required passports from travelers coming into the US from countries that did not require passports before the new rules. This caused a large scramble for passports, thus causing... more

Vietnamese water puppets are coming to Washington DC! On Wednesday June 20, 2007, the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center near the White House will be home to an impressive collection of water puppet, including over 700 from the collection of puppeteer Chu Luong.

“I hope the American visitors will understand the story that we (the participants in the exhibition) want to tell through such installations. It’s... more

Thank you to Virginia over at the Russia Adoption Blog for writing about New Jersey’s proposed adoption leave bill. It’s interesting because I heard about this bill on the radio today and didn’t give it a second thought. That was because the radio announcer failed to mention that it specifically mentions that the leave will apply to newly adopted children. The announcer only said that New Jersey was sending a... more

Thanh Nien News is reporting that a Vietnamese-American official is proposing a shopping center in San Jose, California that would be called Vietnam Town and would cater to the over 80,000 people of Vietnamese descent that live in the area. This Vietnamese business district would house over two hundred Vietnamese-run businesses and would celebrate the northern, central and southern regions of Viet Nam. Viet Nam Town would also be home to Wal Mart and a large supermarket.

While supporters of Viet Nam Town are excited about offering Vietnamese business owners the opportunity to own their own stores and increasing... more