25 years have passed since Helen Hill and Bastard Nation launched the 3rd wave of the adoptee rights movement with our successful Oregon Ballot Measure 58…We’ve wondered how many certs Oregon has released since then. Here’s the latest report straight from the state: Continue Reading →
As I said, Jean Uhrich was a force of nature. Maddeningly so. She could be opinionated en extremis. There were times when I wanted to scream “just shut up,” but didn’t. And, she could be kind and generous. She loved Bastards and loved the fight. She stood for something. Jean’s work will not go to waste. One of these days California WILL fall. Jean was a warrior. She stood on the shoulders of Bastard Elders and others will stand on her shoulders. Jean will be missed. Is missed. Continue Reading →
Riding the Unicorn of Adoption Happiness this Christmas so you don’t have to!
That little AdoptionLand songbird chirped in my ear that NCFA CEO Ryan Hanlon is movin’ on up. He will soon leave the comfort of National Council for Adoption lounge lizardry for a more lucrative and high-profile spot in the beltway where he can hobnob with notables. I am pretty sure I know where he’s headed, but I’ll wait for the official statement to be made. Bastardette is never wrong, but just in case my cryptesthesia is on holiday in St Barts, I won’t line jump. Besides…his departure makes way for the fruition of my own job upgrade to bloom, and I must prepare Continue Reading →
It was a great pleasure to be part of the discussion, Are Baby Baby Boxes Saving Lives? broadcast on The Stream, (Al Jazeera English) on December 10. The panel, besides myself: Nadene Grabham, Director of Baby Savers SA/Doorof Hope, and Patricia Knight Meyer, adoptee rights activist, blogger (My Adopted Life,and author of the forthcoming memoir, Wonderland: A Black Market Baby’s Rise from the Rabbit Hole.) Also clips from activists Abbi Johnson (Liberty Lost podcast) and Adopted Connor. Continue Reading →
Perhaps I looked in the wrong place, but I saw very little in the news about infant adoption this year….No doubt, though, that courts across the land were filled with tiny adoptees–girls in Disney princess costumes and boys in suits and ties–getting their names changed and records sealed. It doesn’t have to be that way. We are here for them. Continue Reading →
he objectification and commodification of Boxed Babies is one of our numerous objections (and here) to baby boxes. Critically, objectification and commodification are key elements SHBB Inc survival–finances. The corporation over the last 8+ years, has posted dozens of happy (and not so happy) looking babies and toddlers and their adoptive parents to encourage “desperate mothers” to use its services, and more importantly, to normalize baby boxing to the public. In turn, the photo-ops, press conferences, banquets, and special interest stories fill their coffers and feed the adoption industry’s bloody maw. Continue Reading →
NAM/NAAM is winding down, and so am I. I will be so glad when this is over for political and personal reasons. I have things to do today that are going to take more time than I think, so I’m going to toss out a couple of reading suggestions. Continue Reading →
Finally, I re-worked my Day 23, Brief Thoughts on Adoptee Displacement, into a poem, which I will send out next week to an online publication I am pretty sure will publish it right away. I need to fix a word that just doesn’t get it yet. So, I’ve now written 6 adoption poems, something I swore I would never do. If this one is published, I’ll post the link. You can read Pruning the Family Treel on Tangled Locks. Continue Reading →
What in the world does this even mean? Who is rescued? Who is redeemed. Bastards? Biomothers? Adopters? The Adoption Industry, which is desperate for new product. If we all work together we can redeem the purpose of adoption. $$$$ Continue Reading →