I am continuing to answer a reader's email questions directly in my blog so I can share with everyone. The other questions that I've answered this week were: Food and Eating in Viet Nam, Wait Times and Expectations, and Air Travel and Time in Viet Nam. I enjoy hearing from... more

This post is a continuation of my question and answer series found here and here.

What types of food did you eat while over there?

I was extremely nervous about eating in Viet Nam, but it turns out that I had no reason to be. I’m vegan, which means I don’t eat any animal products and my husband is vegetarian. So on top of our already fried nerves, we were... more

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the next few posts will be answers to questions that I received from a reader via email. I really do love to hear from you guys and am always happy to answer questions to the best of my ability and share my experiences. I’ll bet that these questions have been thought by others out there in blog land, so it’s my hope that by answering them publicly, I’ll be reaching out to more people. Thanks for reading and as always, please feel free to email me at rebeccah@adoptionblogs.com or leave a comment anytime.

How long was the wait from Dossier to Referral…I couldn’t really tell. And was that expected... more

I love to get emails from all parents and prospective adoptive parents (paps,) and often get asked similar questions. In light of my effort to share with the class, I thought I would answer a reader’s recent questions right here in the blog. I’ll be posting her questions along with my answers in separate posts. As always, please comment below or email me at rebeccah@adoptionblogs.com with any comments or questions.

How long were you in Viet Nam? Where did you fly into?

We... more

Welcome to the Viet Nam Adoption Blog Roll. Any blog authors who write blogs concerning adopting from Viet Nam are more than welcome to join us over here. There is so much for us all to learn from each other, and blogs are an excellent medium in which to share our lives, experiences, families and memories of Viet Nam. Families at all stages of the adoption process who have blogs are encouraged to join our blog roll.

I plan to keep this list going and will repost it as sites are added. If you would like to be added to the Viet Nam Adoption Blog Roll, please post your link in the comments section below or email me at rebeccah@adoptionblogs.com

If... more

My mom took a really hard fall last week and walked away with a broken rib. Ella was on her hip at the time and they were going to play in Grandma’s room when a cat skirted by, tripped my mom and she used her body to protect Ella from getting slammed into the corner of her dresser. And she broke her own rib in the process. After falling she was unable to catch her breath to call for help for a good five minutes, but struggled to keep up a façade of everything being ok for Ella’s benefit. But no matter how hard my mom tried to cover it up, Ella knew that something had happened... more

A bridge in Viet Nam collapsed on Wednesday killing many members of the crew that were working on it and leaving scores of other people trapped or missing. The bridge was being built in Can Tho City which is south of Ho Chi Minh City. This piece of the bridge (which was actually a ramp leading to the Can Tho Bridge,) seems to have collapsed due to problems with the support of the scaffolding. The bridge... more

Thanks to Mary over at the Ethiopia Adoption Blog for starting this meme; I love these things!

Four things I thought about adoption when I was a child - I thought I would like to adopt a child when I was older - that adoptions were mainly secretive and the children often didn’t know they were adopted - that most adopted kids were white - I really didn’t know anything concrete about adoption and didn’t know anyone who was adopted growing up

Four things I've learned since then - adoption is a natural, beautiful way to build a family... more

Deciding which country to adopt from can be a weighty decision the first time around. Deciding where you will go for your second (or third or fourth or more!) adoption in your family can be an even harder decision. Now you already have a child or children at home and your family dynamic is much different than when it was just one or two adults starting out on an adoption journey. Taking into consideration what is best for your current family will help make your decision easier.

First off, I have to mention that I think Erin over at the transracial adoption blog said what is in my head best in her post here:... more

When adopting from Viet Nam, your dossier is the large group of documents that is sent over to Viet Nam. In this post I will list some of the basic documents that will make up your Vietnamese dossier and explain what each document is. Your adoption agency should help you through compiling your dossier and guide you through any questions you may have. There will be other documents (powers of attorney for your agency to act on your behalf, etc.) as well as photographs required; your agency will tell you what is required when you get to this step in the process.

Home Study... more