Mexican Takeaway – the Prologue

Posted by Francesca on Apr 27, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments This is the Prologue from Mexican Takeaway I did not legally become a mother until the paperwork was signed and Gaia was ours. But I had become a mother in my heart the instant I made room for her there, long before we had even met. I’d heard other women speak of that magical moment when their newborn baby was laid on their breast to nurse for the first time. They talked of a sense of...
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Why we adopted in Mexico

Posted by Francesca on Apr 21, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments People often ask me how we came to adopt in Mexico. I suppose the journey which led us there began many years ago in the two room flat where I grew up in Italy.  Aside from good brains and strong socialist leanings, my parents didn’t have much. They believed it was our responsibility to share whatever we had with others. And so it was that my brother and I found ourselves with an adopted...
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Being in the media spotlight

Posted by Francesca on Apr 20, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments If you looked at the Times of London yesterday, you’ll have seen they’ve put their weight behind a campaign to increase the pace and success of adoptions in the UK. It’s an exciting piece of news because it means that my own views, along with those of many others,are being shared by a large body of people. They came to interview and photograph us – myself and the children...
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Our Times story

Posted by Francesca on Apr 19, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments It’s the second time within a month that our story has appeared in The Times, and I applaud their campaign for a radical review of our present adoption process in the UK. This is what The Times says about us today as part of their report about children in care facing “adoption apartheid”.: For Francesca Polini and her husband, Rick, the process was heartbreaking. They...
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The baby business – has it gone too far?

Posted by Francesca on Apr 13, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments The case of the couple who paid a surrogate to have their fourth baby is disturbing in so many ways. As I understand the reports, the surrogate decided to keep the baby well before it was born. To further complicate matters, she has allegedly demanded money from the couple for ‘maintenance’, and it appears they have been ordered by the Child Support Agency to pay it. This is so complicated it is...
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How does it feel to be an adoptive parent?

Posted by Francesca on Apr 11, 2011 in Blog | 1 comment Gaia, my adopted daughter turned three last week. Just a few days later I celebrated Mother’s Day with both of my adopted children for the first time. Invariably people close, and not so close, will ask me how it feels on occasions like this. What they’re angling at, of course, is whether I think about my children’s ‘real’ mothers. This is what I know. I know that...
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