Free Republic

New York makes it easier to get an abortion than adopt a baby thanks partly to a bombshell Hochul administration edict, critics rail. Adoptive and would-be adoptive parents and their lawyers are blasting a rule recently evoked by Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Office of Children and Family Services that limits the financial support adoptive families can give even out-of-state birth mothers. The controversial restriction, which covers birth moms in New York, too, says financial help can only be made 60 days before the baby is born and 30 days after birth, severely hindering help for the biological moms at crucial times...

I came across this You Tube channel. This guy spends his time in an animal shelter sitting with dogs, trying to get them out of their shell in order to make them more adoptable.

Firefighters in Bowling Green, Kentucky, last week found the first baby placed into their Safe Haven Baby Box, which was just installed in December. WBKO reported that an infant was left in the Safe Haven Baby Box at the Bowling Green Fire Department (BGFD) station on Lovers Lane. The firefighters retrieved the child just a minute and a half after the box was used, WNKY noted. Monika Kelsey, the founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, held a press conference. Addressing the parents of the baby, she thanked the parents for looking out for the best interests of their child. Kentucky’s...

Strike, the world’s leading digital wallet built on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, welcomes legislation announced today to make El Salvador the world’s first sovereign nation to adopt bitcoin as legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar. This move will help unleash the power and potential of Bitcoin for everyday use cases on an open network that benefits individuals, businesses, and public sector services. Strike founder and CEO Jack Mallers, one of the earliest Lightning Network developers, has been providing market insights to help make El Salvador’s world-changing effort successful and build the country’s modern financial infrastructure using Bitcoin technology. This technology delivers...

CALDWELL COUNTY, N.C. - A 4-year-old Caldwell County girl was attacked inside her home by the family pet Wednesday. Family members said they had just recently adopted the dog from the humane society in Catawba County. Justina Turner, the child's mother, said she and her daughter were in the living room of her home south of Lenoir when the 3-year-old 60-pound dog suddenly attacked the child, biting her face. She said the dog bit down so hard on her daughter that she wasn't sure at first how she was going to get the animal off her. Turner said the dog...

The flood of children coming into the U.S. in the last several months is making national headlines. Nearly 60,000 unaccompanied children entered the U.S. illegally in the past year, most of them from Central America. Several states remain under consideration to house many of them, including Mississippi. (SNIP) He wrote President Obama about it, and explained “We simply do not have the resources, the location in which to house children who come here and do not speak our language, have no relatives in Mississippi.” Congressman Bennie Thompson also wrote the president, saying Bryant doesn’t speak for all Mississippians.

While serving in Afghanistan, combat dog Layka was injured after running into a building ahead of her handler to clear it. Determined to reward Layka for her selfless act of bravery, Staff Sgt. Julian McDonald adopts her after coming back home.

On an Internet forum where parents sought takers for adopted children they no longer wanted, a teenager from Haiti was offered more frequently than any other girl. Starting at age 14, Nita Dittenber was passed among four families over two years through a practice called "private re-homing."

Solicitor General Elena Kagan, nominated by President Obama to replace retiring Court Justice, John Paul Stevens, has called the military ban on homosexuals, "a profound wrong," and, "a moral injustice of the first order." Elena Kagan is obviously a strong opponent to the military's policy of, "don't ask don't tell." I am also wondering, is she just as adamant about the same policy, "don't ask don't tell," in the Mainstream Media when it comes to the reporting of crimes committed by homosexuals? Upon learning of the case of the Duke Administrator who was arrested last summer, I began wondering if...

Unlike the federal government, which has the power to steal money from you to pay for programs and policies that you don't support, Free Republic relies on the voluntary donations from it's members. While there is already a large number of FReepers and lurkers who donate on a regular basis, either monthly, quarterly or a generous yearly donation, it's not enough to cover FR's operating expenses. There are also FReepers who would like to donate, but just don't have the resources because they are temporarily unemployed, living on a fixed income, have on-going medical expenses or other family obligations. I...

SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A woman who sent her adoptive grandson back to Russia says her family had intended to love and care for the boy but could not overcome his violent outbursts. Nancy Hansen told The Associated Press on Friday that the boy's episodes culminated in a threat to burn the family's house to the ground. After that, Hansen says the family put him on a plane to Moscow and paid a man to take him to the Russian education ministry....

<p>A U.S. mom sent her adopted seven-year-old Siberian son back to Russia alone because she did not want him anymore, it emerged Friday.</p> <p>Artem Saveliev was taken from a grim Russian orphanage in September last year and given a new life in Tennessee.</p>

Students at Howenstine High Magnet School will be collecting donations for troops serving in Afghanistan as part of Make a Difference Day. But the students' efforts are not a one-day deal. Instead, Corrine Blum's service learning class decided to adopt a Marine unit as a yearlong project. They sent a box of letters and personal items to the troops last month and are now planning to adopt an Army unit. The project began when Blum told her students she was planning to send a package to a family friend serving in Afghanistan. She asked her students if they wanted to...

Look out, Madonna and Angelina Jolie — pop star Elton John may be joining the ranks of A-list celebrities with adopted children. John and longtime partner David Furnish are interested in trying to adopt a Ukrainian toddler named Lev they met during an orphanage tour there. The singer told reporters in Ukraine on Saturday that Furnish has long wanted to adopt a child but that he was reluctant until he met Lev at an orphanage where many of the children's parents have died from AIDS. "David always wanted to adopt a child and I always said 'no' because I...

State attorneys will make their case Wednesday in Miami before an appeals court as to why Florida should continue its strict ban on gays and lesbians adopting children.

Good morning! My family (myself, my wife, and our 16 year old and 14 month old) have been presented with the opportunity to adopt a Boxer. His owner is being relocated and cannot take him with her. He's three years old, gets along with small animals, which is good seeing as we have two cats, and a Sheltie. I've read about them quite a bit, and have been around a couple of them. My wife has owned one in the past. I'm impressed with them, but I'd like to get some owner's opinions and suggestions. From what I can gather...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2009 – A Colorado-based group is connecting deployed troops with volunteers eager to “adopt” them. Since its inception four years ago, “Adopt a U.S. Soldier” has connected more than 100,000 servicemembers to 265,000 supportive Americans who have sent them regular care packages, wrote letters and, on occasion, run errands for family members. “It’s been such a privilege to work with this organization and see it grow to what it is today,” Ann Johnson, the group’s founder and chief executive officer, said. “We are committed to our soldiers. We love them. We will continue to do this...

WASHINGTON, April 28, 2008 – Ida Hagg knows all about care packages; in fact, after 10 years of sending them out, she's pretty much an expert. "The troops appreciate beef jerky, sunflower seeds, movies, DVDs,” she said. “In the outlying areas, they appreciate receiving baby wipes and socks and hygiene products -- and all this is topped off with tons of cookies." Hagg first realized the importance of care packages when her own son was deployed to the Balkans, she explained during an “ASY Live” BlogTalkRadio interview. The online radio program is an extension of the Defense Department’s America...

India urges Britain to adopt its orphans NEW DELHI, April 8 (UPI) -- India is struggling with a surplus of abandoned and unwanted children and is urging people in Britain and other Western countries to adopt its orphans. The Sunday Times of London says India is renewing its efforts to save its children from a life of poverty and deprivation by finding homes for them in Europe and the United States. India is estimated to have more than 11 million abandoned children, and the Times reported that the number of newborn babies abandoned at adoption facilities is continuing to rise....

Last week congress passed the Military Commissions Act, granting the Bush administration powers to detain interrogate and prosecute alleged terrorists and their supporters. Congress had to walk a fine line in creating this legislation; information gathered from the detainees has been an important tool in preventing terrorist attacks in the United States. But we had to show the administration and the world that AMERICA DOES NOT TORTURE! One of the interrogation methods outlawed by this bill is something called waterboarding. What is not being reported in the papers is the fact that many other severe methods of “aggressive” questioning are...