All about International Adoption Guide
International Adoption Guide is a labour of love. When I first held my son on my lap and smelled his freshly washed hair I vowed to do everything in my power to bring this same feeling of joy to as many people as possible.
I am horrified about how many children in the world today are growing up without the loving care of parents and how many potential parents are missing the joy of hearing the patter of tiny feet and the peals of happy laughter. For me it is very simple there are children who need parents and there are people who need children. Now one just has to get the two together!
My adoption journey was so difficult. I was clueless most of the time and would spend hours, days, weeks scouring through the internet trying to find some snippet of pertinent information. I was exhausted, drained, stressed, frustrated. I felt that the world was against me and that I would never, never, find my child.
I am a pretty strong character, life has given me fortitude, but still, I nearly gave up 100 times. I thought if I am going through this then others must be too, and how many of them are giving up, or in fact have never even started? And to what end? A childless future is very sad, but what is more sad is that a beautiful child, through no fault of its own, is deprived the right of a loving family.
I would have loved to adopt all the children in my son’s orphanage! I couldn’t, but what I could do, was help others who wanted to see a child grow and fulfil his or her potential, to give a child with an unfortunate beginning, a chance to have a normal life.
And so in 2007, I set up International Adoption Guide which was an immediate hit. I have helped hundreds of people with the support that they need to take the initial steps to becoming a family. What I noticed when talking to these wonderful potential parents was that the same questions were coming up and I realised that I need to enhance International Adoption Guide and make it more pragmatic and useful, providing answers to all and any questions on international adoption.
One of the most fundamental problem is lack of transparency. It seems that international adoption in the UK is a secret club and only a handful of people are allowed access. I now hand you the keys.
The new International Adoption Guide and its extended ‘family’:
- International Adoption Guide Website is breaking new ground with bringing adoption information into the public domain allowing people online access to everything they need to know to complete a successful adoption. It is a pioneer in offering a fully comprehensive website that guides singles and couples through the complex inter-country adoption process through the full text of its website, news stories, research reports, commentary articles, enhanced additional information, links, multimedia, user services and unique products.
- Flagship membership to the International Adoption Guide Community where you will find immediate identity, a confidential environment, a ‘buddy’ support system, and a cooperative spirit. Membership ensures that you have continual access to all the tools you need, when you need them, be it practical, theoretical or emotional and an arena in which to express your sentiments be they positive or negative.
- The International Adoption Guide ‘We are Family’ magazine is the UK’s first and only magazine dedicated solely to the unique world of inter-country adoption. Filled with top class original and selected articles sourced from around the world , you will find information that is relevant and pertinent to you no matter what stage you are at in your inter-country adoption journey. Designed to build upon each other We are Family magazines will become a reference library to which you will refer to again and again.
- International Adoption Practical Guides easy to read and access practical downloads for everything that you need to know on a practical basis from writing your court presentation to how to measure and buy shoes for your new child
- The International Adoption NOW weekly news service brings brief breaking news stories from the international adoption community to your computer desktop every week. Keep up to date with the forever changing world of international adoption and be ahead of the game.
- International Adoption Guide’s ‘Adoption Talk’ series of products, audio recordings, seminars and workshops are uniquely created with you in mind. Everything is relevant and answers all and one of the burning questions you need to ask to educate and empower you to make informed decisions about completing your family. Written, spoken and presented in clear uncluttered language ‘Adoption Talk’ brings adoption home through experts in their field and adoptive parents who have been there and successfully completed an adoption. These resources are specifically designed for the UK market, bringing meaning and significance to you and your family.
International Adoption Guide’s leading position stems from many factors:
- It honours adoptive parents, understands their needs and caters specifically for these needs;
- It stands from a position of independence;
- Up to date information sourced from around the world, and reviewed by peers, ensures a premium standard of support so that you can be ensured of being educated and empowered to make the right decision for you and your family.
- Its strong connections with the adoption community, which ensures a stream of lively, up-to-date, and authoritative news and commentary in its pages;
- The dedication of its professional staff to international adoption and the needs of children without parental care and parents without progeny.
- It’s links and relationships with international adoption bodies places it in a strong position in the international adoption community.
- Its creator is an adoptive parent who has gone through the process and successfully completed an international adoption.
International Adoption Guide will continue to grow and to publish the very best in adoption research, support, articles, news and opinion. It aims to provide everything to do with Inter-country adoption and whether you are just contemplating the idea, have come home with a family adopted from overseas, or wanting to keep abreast of where the international adoption world is and where it is going you will find something valuable and meaningful in International Adoption Guide.
Leadership/Management
- Cecile Trijssenaar Director
Cecile Trijssenaar set up International Adoption Guide in 2007 after a very successful career in film and television, from feature films to television series. After working in news and current affairs as a freelance editor for many of the major global broadcasters e.g. BBC, ABC, RTL, APTN she moved into independent documentary making focusing on investigative journalism and highlighting such hidden subjects as Agent Orange in Vietnam, the forced expulsion of the Bushmen from the CKGR in Botswana, to AIDS and diamonds, and child rape in South Africa. Her films have being broadcast in over 21 countries and have won internationally acclaimed awards.
Ms Trijssenaar received an undergraduate degree in Development and Cultural studies from University of South Africa and earned a Master of Arts degree in Medical Anthropology from University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. She also holds a Higher Diploma in Film and Television studies from Pretoria Technikon.
With a passion for giving a voice for those who have none Ms Trijssenaar has succeeded in putting together an on-line and written petition for Rights of Vietnamese Agent Orange sufferers that gathered over a million signatures and resulted in the first class action court case brought about by a foreign country in the US Supreme Courts. She champions for the rights of women in Zimbabwe through WOZA, and is a keen supporter of Survival International and is often seen raising money for whales and dolphins.
In 2008 Ms Trijssenaar invited a few guests to her home and the support group Russian UK Adoption was born. From that handful of hopefuls, RUKA has grown to an organisation of over 200 members and seeing Russia move from a rare country to adopt from to the most popular.
It is her personal aim to find UK homes for 1000 orphans a year from 2015.
