That's sad about Phil Collins, but maybe now he will have more time for his Alamo enthusiast activities. If you go to San Antonio, you can be privy to some of the diorama show he narrated. It was actually kinda neat, but the neatest part was finding out Phil Collins is a self-proclaimed "Alamo enthusiast."
@fantasylover: I've done a ton of research. More hoops, takes longer, more risk, more expensive -- more everything, really, to adopt from the US. Take it up with your state social services bureau.
On the other hand, this sounds like a situation I've seen in the families of friends: kids who grew up with adopted siblings adopting children from the same country as their uncle/aunt. It's a deliberate choice in expanding the family, it's a nice continuation of generational adoption, and at the end of the day a baby has parents. Win.
The thing that I find disconcerting about the Jennifer Aniston thing is that: 1) She is either portrayed as being lonely because she doesn't have a man, or 2) She is portrayed as being lonely because even if she does have a man, that man is not the certain man that she is reportedly dependent on (Brad Pitt).
And that depresses me about the world. A woman should be able to feel, and be perceived as, happy and stable regardless of whatever her current relationship status. She should not be defined by the men around (or not around) her.
I mean, are there any male counterparts to this? Any 'Lonely Boy' headlines?
All I can say is that as the mother of a adopted Korean special needs child myself, I applaud K. Heigl for what she's doing. It's not an easy road but it's worth it.
Here's the thing about Mariah Carey. No matter how annoying I find breathy talking in songs, I will always love her for saying that she's really happy about the outdoor space for her dogs. Because seriously, I fantasize--frequently--about buying a house with a big back yard so I can run around with my dog and let him chase all the squirrels dumb enough to come onto his property and let him have the bestest, most happiest rest of his life. And in my opinion, anyone who considers their pets' happiness in buying/building a home is a good person indeed.
@Cimorene: I feel like everyone is so intent on jumping on her every word and calling her out without taking into consideration how long she's been in the spotlight and how hard she has worked for the money she has. She hasn't said the most intellectual things in the past but this quote really makes her seem more human than her photoshopped album covers.
It sucks that we get to vote on who will be our next American Idol, but we can't voe on who gets to ignore a foreign baby next. I mean, shouldn't celeb adoption be banned? Yes, it might be better than circumstances in their home country, but being raised by a nanny and famewhored for the rest of your life isn't cool.
@PoisonPixie: Katherine Heigl has a sister who was adopted from Korea, so she's got personal experience of adoption. Also, she is apparently adopting a girl with special needs. I don't know about the situation in Korea, but in the UK, very, very few families are willing to adopt children with special needs, so I can't understand how anyone can think this is a bad thing.
@heykoukla: Agreed. I think it's rather unfair to unequivocally state that all celebrity parents are irresponsible or neglectful, or that by seeing them in the public sphere, we have any real concept of what they're like in private.
As much as Heigl tends to rattle me, I think it's great that she's been inspired by her own experiences with her sister to adopt a child from Korea. And if the girl is special needs, extra kudos---most people don't have the resources to provide special needs children with the care and attention they may need.
@PoisonPixie: But many non-celeb kids are raised by other people too. Most dual-income parents send their children to daycare. At least a nanny gives a child one-on-one attention.
@PoisonPixie: Yeah! I'm with you. I say we go to Hollywood and sterilize everyone and then outlaw adoption there. I totally think only the normal, morally healthy, stay-at-home moms of middle America should be allowed to have babies. And those foreign babies can just stay in those foreign orphanages where they belong.
@PetiteGal: Wow, that's pretty damn judgmental. The dual-income parents I know both work because they have to and it's not the flippant and cavalier decision you imply. Further, many of us who utilize(d) day care (including me) did so because we are single parents and the sole source of support of our households.
Choosing day care doesn't mean that our children don't get one-on-one attention from us or that they're being raised by other people. Choosing a nanny also doesn't automatically mean that you're getting better child-care. There are good and bad day cares and there are good and bad nannies.
Also, there are many celebrities who have adopted both domestically and internationally who do not use their children as publicity props. Most people outside the adoption community (where these things do get discussed -- "so and so was in my travel group" etc.) may not know who they are because, well, they don't use their children as publicity props. Also, you have to keep in mind that the "high-profile" adoptive parent celebs are actively pursued by the paparazzi whereas some of the lower-profile ones are not because they're simply lower profile generally.
@PoisonPixie: Um, nothing against adoption in general...that's why I said "celeb" adoptions. Also, if they choose to adopt, why go overseas? From what I've heard there are a ton of special needs kids here that need adopted. I just hate to see someone like Madonna with another kid.
@PoisonPixie: I'm curious how many children you have adopted or plan to adopt domestically.
Please also be aware that life for a special-needs child in many countries is especially difficult. The orphanages often lack the resources (although not necessarily the desire) to care for them adequately. Surgeries and medical treatment that we might take for granted in the US and Europe are simply beyond their means. These children may live their entire lives with conditions that would have been correctable had the resources been there. Additionally, in many countries, these children with relatively minor conditions will have no future beyond the social welfare system.
I have been highly critical of Madonna's adoptions because of her (and Malawi's) flagrant disregard of the law and have spoken out as such on this website. However, the VAST majority of adoptive parents -- celebrity and otherwise -- are not Madonna.
Whether to pursue adoption, childbirth, fertility treatments, whatever is a highly personal choice and it is amazing to me that people feel entitled to substitute their own judgment for those of the people most intimately aware of the factors in that decision -- the parent(s). Similary, the choice between domestic and international adoption is one that typically made for very personal reasons and rarely is the off-the-cuff decision that it is portrayed as. For some people, domestic adoption is not a feasible option. For some people, it is the perfect option.
@PoisonPixie: Why does anyone have to justify why they are choosing to give a child a home that doesn't have one, regardless of where he or she may come from? My son is from Korea and yes, we looked into domestic adoption but this program worked for us and now I have a son who has a home instead of living in a government system. And what business is it of anyone to determine who should and shouldn't have children, adopted or otherwise? We don't really know Madonna's personal life and those kids may be cared for beyond their wildest dreams.
@doodley is not amused: Word. And I just wanted to add, to reassure all the moms with kids in daycare out there? My daycare was FUCKING AWESOME. They had goats and chickens and a swingset, none of which I had at my house, and Rika, the lady who ran it, went to British Nanny School and was as close to Mary Poppins as you can get in real life. AND, hanging at Rika's didn't impede my relationship with my mom, and both my folks came to all my soccer games and read me books every night. And I've never done drugs or been arrested, wasn't a pregnant teen, got good grades, and now I'm an attorney with a good paycheck, a mortgage, and two cats. None of which would necessarily be true if I'd had different parents. My mom modeled ambition and independence and I have done my best to emulate those strengths.
Daycare =/= abandonment of children and/or ruining of lives.
"I'm so dangerous right now I scare myself." — Shawne Merriman, the San Diegos Chargers linebacker accused of choking Tila Tequila, to Playboy.
WHO THE FUCK RAISES THESE PEOPLE????
@MissFiFi: i imagine he meant in terms of what he does on the football field, and not that he's thinking about beating up his girlfriend all the live-long day.
And the answer to who raises these people....... the same people who raised me. Parents.
Nighthawk (the former Okori Wadsworth) is headed back to DGUSA in November! was starred
Nighthawk (the former Okori Wadsworth) is headed back to DGUSA in November! was unstarred
@MissFiFi: I can clearly see that you did. However, there were no marks found on Ms. Tequila's body according to the San Diego Sheriff's Department. So, unless Mr. Merriman has the ability to hit someone and not leave a single mark anywhere, perhaps this might not have happened.
Nighthawk (the former Okori Wadsworth) is headed back to DGUSA in November! was starred
Nighthawk (the former Okori Wadsworth) is headed back to DGUSA in November! was unstarred
@MissFiFi: this is taken out of context... it's in regards to his performance on the football field. hmmm...for a group of people who usually condemn taking things out of context....i mean, this was posted last night IN context....today OUT? lame.
@MissFiFi: i'm sure we'd all seem like psychos if people went taking snippets out of our every day life ...and posting them out of context. like yesterday when i was directing mr.par3 while unclogging the toilet and said 'just shove it in as hard as you can and put your weight on the end and PULL OUT! STAB AT IT!'
Naleigh? Is this combining two names into a bizarre sounding new one going to be the new trend? If so, I will be adding that to my list of grudges against Stephanie Meyer
The Page Six blurb about Mary-Kate Olsen makes me want to fightabitch. It's all about her gaining weight. "Goodbye billion dollars, hello bloat" or someshit. FUCK EVERYONE.
I have never high fived Kristin Cavalari with my penis.
John,
I think you're doing it wrong. Perhaps you could refer to page 115 in your high school health book for an illustration. Also, please quit speaking.
09/10/09
[www.mysanantonio.com]
09/10/09
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On the other hand, this sounds like a situation I've seen in the families of friends: kids who grew up with adopted siblings adopting children from the same country as their uncle/aunt. It's a deliberate choice in expanding the family, it's a nice continuation of generational adoption, and at the end of the day a baby has parents. Win.
09/10/09
And that depresses me about the world. A woman should be able to feel, and be perceived as, happy and stable regardless of whatever her current relationship status. She should not be defined by the men around (or not around) her.
I mean, are there any male counterparts to this? Any 'Lonely Boy' headlines?
09/10/09
09/10/09
09/10/09
Then again, musicians have never really Rogered my Hammerstein, so whatever.
09/10/09
09/10/09
So here's to you, Mariah Carey!
09/10/09
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As much as Heigl tends to rattle me, I think it's great that she's been inspired by her own experiences with her sister to adopt a child from Korea. And if the girl is special needs, extra kudos---most people don't have the resources to provide special needs children with the care and attention they may need.
09/10/09
09/10/09
([www.artofeurope.com])
09/10/09
09/10/09
09/10/09
Choosing day care doesn't mean that our children don't get one-on-one attention from us or that they're being raised by other people. Choosing a nanny also doesn't automatically mean that you're getting better child-care. There are good and bad day cares and there are good and bad nannies.
Also, there are many celebrities who have adopted both domestically and internationally who do not use their children as publicity props. Most people outside the adoption community (where these things do get discussed -- "so and so was in my travel group" etc.) may not know who they are because, well, they don't use their children as publicity props. Also, you have to keep in mind that the "high-profile" adoptive parent celebs are actively pursued by the paparazzi whereas some of the lower-profile ones are not because they're simply lower profile generally.
09/10/09
09/10/09
Please also be aware that life for a special-needs child in many countries is especially difficult. The orphanages often lack the resources (although not necessarily the desire) to care for them adequately. Surgeries and medical treatment that we might take for granted in the US and Europe are simply beyond their means. These children may live their entire lives with conditions that would have been correctable had the resources been there. Additionally, in many countries, these children with relatively minor conditions will have no future beyond the social welfare system.
I have been highly critical of Madonna's adoptions because of her (and Malawi's) flagrant disregard of the law and have spoken out as such on this website. However, the VAST majority of adoptive parents -- celebrity and otherwise -- are not Madonna.
Whether to pursue adoption, childbirth, fertility treatments, whatever is a highly personal choice and it is amazing to me that people feel entitled to substitute their own judgment for those of the people most intimately aware of the factors in that decision -- the parent(s). Similary, the choice between domestic and international adoption is one that typically made for very personal reasons and rarely is the off-the-cuff decision that it is portrayed as. For some people, domestic adoption is not a feasible option. For some people, it is the perfect option.
09/10/09
09/10/09
Daycare =/= abandonment of children and/or ruining of lives.
09/10/09
WHO THE FUCK RAISES THESE PEOPLE????
09/10/09
And the answer to who raises these people....... the same people who raised me. Parents.
09/10/09
09/10/09
09/10/09
09/10/09
09/10/09
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God, it's too early for this.
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09/10/09
John,
I think you're doing it wrong. Perhaps you could refer to page 115 in your high school health book for an illustration. Also, please quit speaking.
Thank You,
18thfloor, on behalf of, the world.