Free Event for Adoptive Parents

By Susan Merkel
     RESOLVE Event Focused on Adoption Issues
“Waiting for Your Referral” Features Adoption Expert Joni Mantell
Princeton, NJ Area (March 16, 2009) –  “How to Cope While You Are Waiting to Adopt” is the focus of a special RESOLVE Northeast event, Wednesday, April 1st, 7:30 to 9:00pm at Panera Bread, 136 Nassau Street, Princeton, NJ 08542. Joni Mantell, LCSW, recognized adoption expert, psychotherapist, columnist, and Director of the Infertility and Adoption Counseling Center, will discuss specific and positive ways to spend your time during the wait for a domestic or international adoption referral, as well as information on how to prepare for parenthood.
 “One of the hardest periods during the adoption family building journey can be the waiting time from the point your paperwork is submitted, to the actual adoption referral,” says Susan Merkel, leader of the RESOLVE Northeast Adoption Waiting Parent PLSG, an adult adoptee and adoptive parent. “With time frames for International Adoption referrals growing to 3+ years for some countries and domestic adoption selections by birthmother timeframes unknowable, information on how to deal with the wait is extremely useful,” says Merkel.
Joni Mantell founded the IAC Center in 1992, and is a frequent writer and contributor to the "Ask the Expert" column for Adoptive Families magazine, where she is known for her ability to integrate adoption and child developmental issues; a frequent speaker on these topics; and a consultant for several infertility clinics and adoption agencies where she helps them to address the psychosocial aspects of their work. She is the creator of a unique lifelong, short-term therapy and psycho-educational model constructed from psychoanalytic, developmental and adoption life cycle theories and research, which successfully teaches people coping skills to address the emotional aspects of adoption and infertility issues.
Founded in 1974, RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, headquartered in McLean, VA, is the oldest and largest consumer-based, nonprofit group that provides education, advocacy and compassionate support for those struggling with infertility in the United States. Each year, RESOLVE and its nationwide network of affiliates handle more than 1.5 million contacts from people seeking information and help.  For more information, visit the RESOLVE website at www.resolve.org.  To register, contact Susan at: [email protected]