National Adoption Month

November is the designated National Adoption Month. It wasn't always that way. Here is a timeline to show you how National Adoption Month came to be.

1976 - Governor Michael Dukakis came up with an Adoption Week for his state.

1976 - President Gerald Ford expanded on the above declaring a National Adoption Week.

1990 - National Adoption Week became National Adoption Month.

National Adoption Month includes National Adoption Day (Nov. 17th), a day of simultaneous finalizations of adoptions for many adptive parents and their adopted children.

Also part of National Adoption Month's events is the Annual Reg Day, which was held this year on Nov. 10, 2007. For more information on how you can help out or to volunteer, visit the RegDay website.

What can you do?

Contact your local newspaper. Ask them to run a positive story on adoption (perhaps offering your story to share.

Look for local events and go be part of them.

Tie 114 ribbons in your yard, one for each 1000 children in foster care awaiting adoption. Don't stop there, get your neighborhood to join in and invite the media.

Donate books about adoption to your local school library. Add to this by sponsoring a "Celebrate Adoptees Day" assembly. Tell your story. Ask how many present are adoptees (get this information ahead of time too) and have a symbolic gift for each of them - e.g. bookmarks with interesting facts such as famous adoptees, quotes and so on.

Additional ideas are welcome. Please send them to namideas@voiceofadoptees.com