Lexicon: the vocabulary of a language, an individual speaker or group of speakers, or a subject. (Merriam-Webster) I wrote my book An Adoptee Lexicon, in which I discuss forty-five terms that are significant to me as an adopted person, because I want to have a conversation about the words we use surrounding adoption, especially those simple words we … Continue reading The Words We Use: National Adoption Month 2018
A little while ago I noticed an article about New Jersey holding a family reunification day to celebrate parents who’ve been able to make changes in their lives and get their kids back after having them taken away due to neglect or abuse. I was struck by the use of the word “reunification” as opposed … Continue reading What We Mean When We Say Adoption Reunion
No, there is no error in the title of this post. Use of the term “birth mother” to mean a woman who has relinquished a child to adoption can be traced back to Pulitzer Prize winning author Pearl S. Buck, who was herself an adoptive mother and who also founded an adoption agency. Buck first … Continue reading My Adoptivemother and My Birth Mother
Karen Pickell: Between 