Mark your calendar for The 16th Annual Adoption Knowledge Affiliates Conference--November 14-15, 2008.

 Two days of adoption education and support for anyone who has been touched by adoption and the professionals in the field of adoption. Whether you are an adopted person, a birth parent, adoptive parent or prospective adoptive parent, you will find something at this conference that is of interest to you! Our keynote speaker, Dr. Marcy Axness, is one of the world's few experts on the primal issues in adoption. Please, join us!

Lifetime Journey focuses on relationships between children, their birth
parents and their adoptive parents, whether they are in an open adoption or
a closed one. This workshop will address children's questions about their
birth parents -- both the questions they ask and those they hold inside.
Recognizing that there are no cookie cutter approaches to building a
positive triad relationship and that each family situation is unique, we
will address common questions such as: How can birth families remain
connected to an adopted child without confusing the child? How can complex
relationships between adoptive and birth parents be managed for the support
of a child? How do birth parents play a role when it is a closed adoption? Should you
consider opening your child's adoption? This will be a safe place to discuss
fears and hopes regarding our children's birth parents and their
relationship (or lack thereof) to them and us. This workshop is appropriate for both domestic and international adoptions.

"Adoption...Where the Joy Begins"

Keynote speaker: Patricia Irwin Johnston. Presented by the Adoptive Parents Committee.  At Cornell University.

Conference brochure available here (pdf file).

Sponsored by the Louisiana Adoption Advisory Board and held in New Orleans.  Workshops include:

- Sharon Kaplan Rozia on core issues in adoption
- Patricia Martinez Dorner on open adoption
- Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao on adoption ethics
- panel on birthfathers in adoption

Conference flyer available here.

Sponsored by the Louisiana Adoption Advisory Board and held in New Orleans.  Workshops include:

- Sharon Kaplan Rozia on core issues in adoption
- Patricia Martinez Dorner on open adoption
- Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao on adoption ethics
- panel on birthfathers in adoption

Conference flyer available here.

Sponsored by the Louisiana Adoption Advisory Board and held in New Orleans.  Workshops include:

- Sharon Kaplan Rozia on core issues in adoption
- Patricia Martinez Dorner on open adoption
- Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao on adoption ethics
- panel on birthfathers in adoption

Conference flyer available here.