February 2026 Newsletter

Posted on March 06, 2026 by Adoption Circle Staff

February has passed and March has arrived, along with the promise of warmer days and sunshine. Spring is almost here! While I love living in a place that experiences all four seasons, I’m ready for winter to be over.  I choose to believe that Punxsutawney Phil was wrong and that he really didn’t really see his shadow on February 2nd. Ready to start planning some spring events? Consider participating in the Adoption Possibilities GOLF OUTING which will raise funds to support the adoption community. I know adoption is near and dear to all of our hearts, so please consider attending this fundraiser. 

Along with Spring, comes the color of GREEN – money that is 😊 HA HA Tax season is just around the corner. Here is a link that may be resource to you as you are preparing your 2025 taxes. 

SUPER BOWL 2026

Super Bowl 2026 was an exciting game but more importantly (IMO) had a historical halftime show entirely in Spanish, celebrating Latin American pride. This was an awesome opportunity for our children to have a culture experience, hear a different language and celebrate diversity in our society. America is and always will be a melting pot of races and cultures and we welcome the opportunity to celebrate this.

Black History Month offered ALL of us parents the opportunity to teach our children to honor the achievements of Black people in history, as well as their resilience to the adversity they faced. Honoring this part of our history moves us forward in the ongoing journey towards equity and racial justice in our society. This is important for parents that have children of color but also VERY important for parents that are parenting children of ANY race. Black history is ALL OF OUR history.

Below is a link to a great read about black history month, written by a young woman of color that was adopted by Caucasian parents. I encourage everyone to read about her experience and her perspective on black history month.

https://thearchibaldproject.com/preparing-your-black-transracial-adoptee-for-black-history-month/

If you are white parents raising white children and wonder why you should acknowledge and teach your children about Black History Month, consider the following example of Black History…

In 1930 Vivien Thomas, 19 years old, accepted a job at a hospital. He was Black man in a world that told him what he could and could not be. He wanted to be a doctor; he worked as a lab assistant for $12 a week. He was in charge of the caring and cleaning of lab animals. But he also listened, observed and asked questions. He understood what the experiments were that were occurring in the lab and the doctors that worked there noticed. They were impressed with his interest and passion. He was taught surgical skills, and they encouraged him to participate in experimental surgeries in the lab.

By 1933 he worked in the role of research partner but was not acknowledged as or compensated for this role. Then a challenge was presented to the doctors. Babies were dying from a heart defect -people were calling it “Blue Baby Syndrome”. Babies’ skin was turning blue because their bodies were not getting enough oxygen. Most did not live long with this condition. How could surgery increase blood flow to the lungs? Vivien embraced this challenge and began creating new methods, new tools and practicing on dogs in the lab. He developed a way to connect the subclavian artery to the pulmonary artery. This new path lets more blood reach the lungs. In 1944 Vivien stood next to a surgeon and talked him through the procedure he invented. The surgery saved the child’s life. This procedure saved thousands of children and helped to create the field of pediatric heart surgery. The surgeon had the procedure named after him and became famous; Vivien did not.
Vivien continued to work at the hospital for 22 years training surgeons, many of whom became leaders in heart surgery. They learned their skills from Vivien. He was never called doctor. He ate with the maintenance staff. He never had his name listed in any of the medical journals. After 40 years of dedicated work, he was promoted to instructor of surgery, not professor.

At 66 years old he was awarded an honorary Doctorate degree. He was finally a doctor. Today, students study his work. Scholarships carry his name. The surgery he created is still saving lives more than 80 years later.

This is Black History, this is our history, and this amazing human created a procedure that has saved the lives of so many children, some of whom were adopted through Adoption Circle .

A note from the Director of Birth Parent Services

Adoption Circle continues to be a resource for all of our families throughout the years. I know many families that stay connected to the agency are parenting littles, but we do have some families that have children that are older and are navigating parenting teens and preteens. The teen years are challenging but add in adoption and identity issues and life can be complicated! I was excited to start a parenting forum, but due to lack of interest (only two parents expressed an interest) we are going to pause this until more interest is expressed. We are always here for one-on-one conversations when needed! If you have a young adult that is an adoptee and is interested in mentoring an adopted teen, please let me know! There is a need for this, and we love to connect Adoption Circle adoptees with each other. We are a family 😊

Looking for fun activities to do with your teen while they call you cringy and uncool? Consider some of the ideas listed in the link below.
https://grownandflown.com/100-things-parent-teen-can-do-together/

May the odds forever be in our favor!
Kimberly

We are looking forward to March events.  Hoping to see great St. Patrick’s Day pictures, and hoping March brings us some warmer days.  Please remember to follow us on social media as we post several times through out the month FaceBook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube

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