A Bicycle Built for Three

Over the last few weeks we've been surrounded by pregnancy and birth announcements.  It still stings to hear about other couples getting pregnant or welcoming a child, but we do the best we can.  It's been especially hard because in some cases we weren't hearing the news from the families themselves; we were hearing the news from our own family. Two of my mother's good friends recently found out they were going to become grandparents, and in my mother's excitement for them she assumed we would share the sentiment.  Neither time was intentionally malicious, but it was still hurtful.  After the first announcement -- my mother called just to make sure we had seen the couple share the news on Facebook, and we had to tell her we had seen it and were processing it -- I thought it would be ok.  We couldn't hide from the reality of babies being born to others, but as I pointed out to her it was hard to jump for joy when getting pregnant came seemingly so easy for them....

I've noticed a trend in the adoption groups lately -- more and more hopeful adoptive parents report being scammed.  There is one woman in particular who is notorious for this; she was even featured on Dr. Phil's television show.  For someone to prey on the emotions of hopeful parents like that is despicable.  However, it raises some interesting questions as to why these scams are so prevalent...and successful. Sometimes the scam is uncovered early, with the only cost being pride.  Sometimes, though, the scam goes much further and there is significant financial loss on top of the emotional turmoil.  People report losing thousands of dollars in these schemes.  There are even social media groups dedicated to identifying and ending scams.  It would be insensitive to pass judgment on those who have fallen victim, and I give credit to those who are willing to share their experiences to keep it from happening to someone else.  With so many dedicated to e...