‘Understanding Adoption’ seminar set

Families created through adoption don’t include only mom, dad and children.

Families are multigenerational, with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins — not to mention close friends — having questions or concerns of their own about an adoption in the family.

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Baton Rouge will host “Understanding Adoption: A Seminar for Family and Friends” from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 29 at the Catholic Charities office, 1900 South Acadian Thruway. The cost of the seminar, recommended for adults only, is $25 per person. Seating is limited, so visit http://www.adoptccdiobr.org or call [phone] for more information and to register.

The session is the second in a series of adoption-related seminars presented by Catholic Charities clinical social workers with certification in adoption.

The first session was “Talking to Your Child About Adoption,” and it will be offered again in 2012, said Catholic Charities spokeswoman Carol Spruell. That seminar focuses on being comfortable talking with children about adoption, making it a lifelong conversation rather than a one-time event, Spruell said.

“As there is more openness in adoption, (immediate family members) are becoming more comfortable,” said Janice Allen, the maternity and adoption department director for Catholic Charities. But extended family members and friends may worry about saying the right things, she said.

“They just don’t know what to say,” Allen said. “They don’t know what to ask.”

That’s why the second seminar in the series was created — to address those concerns, Allen said.

Besides seminars, Catholic Charities offers other adoption-related services, including post-adoption counseling and maternity services.

“That’s what sets Catholic Charities apart rather than going through a private adoption. We’re going to be here long-term,” Spruell said, noting that November is National Adoption Month.

All of the agency’s counselors are trained to deal with common feelings of grief and loss, both of the parent who has chosen adoption after an unplanned pregnancy and the parent who wants to adopt because of an inability to have biological children, she said.

“Everybody is accommodating, and everybody is making adjustments to what may not have been the first choice for their lives,” Allen said.

Catholic Charities handled 16 adoptions last year, about evenly split between domestic adoptions and international adoptions. The agency received full Hague Accreditation from the Council on Accreditation in 2010, Allen said. The Hague Adoption Convention is an international convention dealing with international adoption and other children’s issues.

In international adoptions, some countries are rewriting laws to permit their own citizens to adopt orphans, making fewer children available to be adopted in the United States, Allen said.

“It’s a good thing. We really want children to be provided homes in their own culture,” Allen said.

At the same time, the process is slower for couples here hoping to adopt a child internationally, usually taking a couple of years, she said.

“It’s discouraging and disheartening for our families, but that’s just the way it is,” Allen said.

Back at home, Allen said, her agency is looking for families who will care for infants during the time after a woman gives birth, while she is deciding whether to parent the child herself or make an adoption plan.

Catholic Charities also offers maternity services — operating a Sanctuary for Life transitional shelter for pregnant women providing the opportunity for them to receive medical care that they might not have received otherwise, as well as counseling, food and shelter, regardless of their decision to parent or make an adoption plan.

For more information about any of these programs, call [phone].