As an adoption medicine specialist for more than 20 years, I have read and agonized over the social histories of thousands of children adopted domestically and internationally. These stories are fragments and secrets of a rich fabric of dysfunctional family life from all corners of the world in 196 countries,...

Since Haiti's devastating earthquake two years ago, WWO has been in the process of adapting our current program models to fit the needs of children who have been affected by the horrific tragedy. Our successful program models of physical and mental health and education support are all desperately needed and...

Statement by Dr. Jane Aronson, founder and CEO of Worldwide Orphans Foundation:

On World AIDS Day, observed Dec. 1, we remember the millions of precious children who have been orphaned by the devastating HIV/AIDS pandemic and who are living with this disease on a daily basis. We also celebrate the...

I want you to know Elena. To know Elena is to have the privilege to observe the effects of abandonment and recovery. She gives us a sweeter, tender way to enter her world of darkness from being left over and over... again. I will tell you her story, but first...

I started my day at 6:30 am on Oct. 9, reviewing a pre-adoption medical abstract from a country abroad for a lovely American family. I am wearing my hat as Dr. Jane, the adoption doctor today... When I saw this little boy's photos in my inbox from the Jones family,...

This blog is in response to a September 18 article in the New York Times, by John Leland, on the trafficking of babies in China.

Over the 22 years that I have been an adoption medicine specialist, there have been many historic moments where the legitimacy of...

September 5, 2011, Labor Day

I sat on the couch in my den tonight with my 11-year-old son, Ben (adopted from Vietnam as a baby), helping him tend to the 53 mosquito and flea bites on his legs and back from a summer of fun and escape. We visited friends...

I awakened at about 3 a.m. today, eager to write and get some work done. An email in my ever-growing inbox (I emptied 200 emails just 24 hours ago in an attempt to clean house) arrived telling me about some very nice work that their organization was doing for disabled...

I awakened early on Saturday, July 30, eager to participate in a special event while visiting a friend on Shelter Island, an island at the eastern end of New York's Long Island. Their sweet and sassy 4-year-old daughter, Aliyah Temanesh, adopted from Ethiopia more than three years ago, was about...

Integrating orphans back into their own communities and cultures is a key aspect of the mission of Worldwide Orphans Foundation (WWO). WWO has worked diligently to complete psycho-social assessments on the 39 orphans with HIV/AIDS who reside in Des's Village, an orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We learned a lot...

Journal From The Field #2: July 4, 2011

This is the second in a series of blogs from my mission trip to Haiti to investigate the plight of orphaned and vulnerable children from June 28 to July 2, 2011.

I became reacquainted with Monley, a 6-year-old Haitian orphan, and his...

Journal from the field #3 -- July 4, 2011
This is the second in a series of two blogs from Dr. Jane Aronson's mission trip to Haiti to investigate the plight of orphaned and vulnerable children from June 28-July 2, 2011.

What do kids do all day...

This is the first in a series of two blogs from Dr. Jane Aronson's mission trip to Haiti to investigate the plight of orphaned and vulnerable children from June 28-July 2, 2011.

My recollection of Monley, a 6-year-old Haitian boy, is that he was trapped under rubble and...

Journal from the field #2, June 1, 2011
Dr. Aronson in Bulgaria, May 28-June 2, 2011

While in Bulgaria, we met with the head of UNICEF in the Bulgaria office, where I outlined our work goals for orphans and vulnerable children in Bulgaria by sharing information about our Granny...

Journal from the field #3, June 1, 2011
Dr. Aronson in Bulgaria, May 28-June 2, 2011

The WWO Granny Program is very successful as reflected in the qualitative quarterly reports from our team in the 10 orphanages in Bulgaria. The first phase of the program, however, shows the damage...

Journal from the field #4, June 2, 2011
Dr. Aronson in Bulgaria, May 28-June 2, 2011

After a week of meetings dedicated to interim care planning, foster care, group homes and domestic adoption in Ethiopia and Africa, followed by a week of meetings with government officials in charge of...

Journal from the field #2, May 31, 2011
Dr. Aronson in Ethiopia, May 23-27, 2011

I've traveled from Ethiopia to Bulgaria and am finally adjusting to the seven-hour time difference both countries share with New York. Still having some trouble sleeping, but making some progress, though last night I...

Journal from the field #3, May 31, 2011
Dr. Aronson in Bulgaria, May 28-June 2, 2011

I arrived from Ethiopia in Sofia on May 28. Mark Beukema, Worldwide Orphans Foundation's (WWO) director of programs, and I have been traveling through the beautiful Bulgarian countryside to hold incredibly productive meetings...

Journal from the field #1, May 26, 2011
Dr. Aronson in Ethiopia, May 23-27, 2011

This trip has been hard on me. Traveling to Addis Ababa took 25 hours and then another hour just to get through customs and bag checks. But I was happy to be in Addis...

I have looked for mentoring all my life...I have yearned for it and sought it almost desperately. There were fortunately some giants in my life and I am grateful. I write this note at 5 a.m. in the morning on April 9 to honor the philosophy and importance of mentoring...