la                                                                                                                                               
Saturday September 16  1:30 pm  - 2:50 pm

AlbeeAnncarol
 Panel: Discussion
Edward Albee, adoptee;
Ann Fessler, adoptee;
 Carol Schaefer, mother.

Adoption and Creativity                              

Key to Symbols:  A-1st Parent Realities, C- On Being Adopted, E - Search Ethics, F-Support Issues,
                               G - Healing Concepts,  H - Clinically Speaking, I- The Road Ahead, J - Other, SH- Self Help
 400 Series         Saturday 3:10 pm - 4:30 pm

401
 Cancelled

402
 Judy Lawrence, Mother
Shame and the First Mother
A,  SH
  How the shame of losing a child to adoption creates an often invisible cloak of shame that first mothers wear, sometimes  unknowingly, often for ever.

403
 Graig, Stott, Adoptee, MHP & Leslie Wagner, Mother, MHP
In A Perfect World...
H, C
 An examination: (a) factors resulting in adoption  (b) beliefs, choices and actions taken by professionals and clients based on these factors and (c) possible alternative options

404
 Celeste Billhartz, Adoptee, Educator
The Mothers Project .. telling their stories in images, words and music  SESSION 2
J, SH
 Songs, narratives and Q/A with Celeste and Karen Wilson Buterbaugh, co-author of Adoption Healing for Mothers... a path to recovery.

405
 Julia Cantrell, Adoptee
Searching For My Father: the Ugly Duckling was an Eagle
C, SH
 Born and raised in New Zealand, the story of the odyssey to find my American roots... knowing my first father to be an American citizen.

406
 Patrick McMahon, Adoptee
Coming Out Again: Gay & Lesbian Adoptees
C, SH
 The unique added dimension of being gay in the experience of being adopted will be explored  in this workshop.

407
 Debra Baker, Mother
Too Bad to be a Mother
A, SH
 A screening of "Broken Ties", the presenter's personal documentary about being an unwed mother in 1967, losing her son to adoption, and the life-long effects on first mothers. Audience discussion around relinquishment issues.

408
 Meg Kearney, Adoptee, Author
 Coming Out of the Closet as an Adoptee
C, SH
 How one adoptee, who grew up keeping the fact of her adoption a secret, found a way to speak out about who she is and thus begin a healing process.

409
  Rober Hafetz, Adoptee and MHP
Bringing the past and the present into balance... define yourself.
G, H,SH
 Define some of the problems caused by the process of adoption;  unresolved grief, identity development, self actualization, and happiness, followed by a means to explore and define the problems on the individuals terms. The participant will clarify the issues, acquire one new skill, and assert himself on his own time to define himself on the path to replace the false self with the true self.. Resolving the reality of having two mothers.
**  It would be a kindness to use the term "Mother" or "First Mother"
 during this conference, as opposed to using the "birth" prefix.
(An increasing number of mothers of adoption loss experience these prefixes as oppressive).
Thank you!

Saturday 6:30 pm - 9:30pm
Banquet & Entertainment - 12th Floor of Conference Facility

Saturday 10:00 pm - Midnight
Hospitality Party - Flatotel, 135 W 52nd Street, 212-887-9400

Click here to register  -> click