Synopsis: A groundbreaking achievement for Hallmark Entertainment, this important new real-life series explores the trials, the breakthroughs, the rewards, and changing attitudes of the 21st century alternative for families and single parents.

There are 500,000 children in the world longing for homes. For every mother and father willing and wanting to adopt them, there’s a story far more touching, heartrending, and inspiring that any work of fiction. Adoption charts the emotional and sometimes controversial adoption process for parents, children and birth mothers.

It details heartwarming personal stories of International and Domestic adoptions; the difficulties facing the prospective single mothers and fathers eager to start a family; the efforts of adoptive families to create a blended cultural environment in trans-racial adoptions; special efforts by lesbian and gay couples hoping to adopt in non-traditional families; the hardships and joys of building a new home for physically and mentally disabled children; and the trying journey for adopted children who wish to rediscover their roots—by finding their biological parents.

Filled with the dramatically diverse stories of real people throughout the country—from frustration and heartbreak to personal triumphs—this rewarding new series will change the way you look at the complexities of family, parenting, and childhood. Adoption is the real thing. (courtesy Hallmark Entertainment, 2001)

The Cast:

Production Info:

Episodes:
1-1 Episode One--09/07/2003
23-year-old Angie has decided to put her second child up for adoption, feeling ill-equipped to provide properly for the baby. Choosing Sue and Fred Neumann to adopt, the single mom agrees to allow the couple to be present at the birth. This emotional episode will also feature an update on one of the most compelling stories of last season, the story of Jeff and Elaine Jolly, who endured a grueling year-long wait and two trips to Russia to adopt brothers Victor and Gorsha.

1-2 Episode Two--09/14/2003
Childless after years of infertility treatments and artificial insemination attempts, Tracy and Graham Andrighetti discovered the availability of children in Kazakhstan to adopt on an adoption website. After months of laborious paperwork, they are traveling halfway around the world to choose a child to bring home. Also, we check in with several families from last season, including the Brinkers, the Favazza's and the Women's Support Group.

1-3 Episode Three--09/21/2003
After six domestic and international adoptions, the Londons are attempting one final adoption of three children in Irkutsk. The success of their adoption lies in the hands of a judge who is reported to be the toughest judge in Russia.

1-4 Episode Four--09/28/2003
Two families, the Stavigs and the Schreiners, were in the middle of adopting children from Cambodia when the American INS stopped issuing visas for Cambodian adoption on the allegations of baby trafficking. Both families are forced to fight for the children they have come to think of as their own. In addition to this heart-rending episode, we present the poignant profile of Jayna Perry, 42 years old, as she and her adoptive father meet Jayna's biological parents and six siblings for the first time.

1-5 Episode Five--10/04/2003
Laurie & Greg Anderson have biological and adopted children and have been fostering two five-year-old sisters both suffering from congenital cancer. Although the girls' futures are unknown, the Anderson family chose to adopt the sisters. A middle-aged single woman from Philadelphia travels to Siberia to adopt a two-year-old girl, Annie, and re-locate to Buffalo to be near her extended family.

1-6 Episode Six--10/12/2003
Jean and Bill Tevald return to Russia to adopt the sister of their three adopted children. We return to visit several families from last season to check on their progress and see how the children are today. Families include, Abu-Suneima, Joliene, Smith and Jolly.

1-7 Episode Seven--10/19/2003
Deanna Wallace is an American humanitarian worker who has established an orphanage in the wake of the ravages of civil war in Sierra Leone. One orphan, 16-year-old Kadie, is in desperate need of medical care to treat a 2 year-old gun shot wound in her leg. If left untreated she will certainly lose her leg. Deanna will escort Kadie to the US to be adopted by Susan Peik and Jim Dickey of Minneapolis. A single man tries unsuccessfully to adopt a young Romanian boy in what he believes is a bias against his marital status. We follow him as he continues his attempts to adopt an infant from Guatemala and continues his efforts in Romania with the support and intervention of the U.S. government.

1-8 Episode Eight--11/02/2003
A profile of a Christian music star, Steven Curtis Chapman, and his wife, Mary Beth Chapman, who have adopted for a second time in China just on the cusp of the SARS crisis. The Chapmans traveled to China in a desperate effort to protect their daughter from health risk. Steven is a huge advocate of adoption and has established the Shohanna Foundation to financially aid families who want to adopt. We follow stories of several pregnant young women in residence at Gladney as they meet and choose families who will adopt their newborns.

1-9 Episode Nine--11/09/2003
Deidre and Sheff Otis have taken the unusual position of blending their family with adopted and biological children. We follow them as they travel to the remote city of Magadan in Russia to adopt two toddlers, a boy and a girl, who will join a biological and adopted brother at home.

1-10 Episode Ten--11/16/2003
Dierdre and Sheff Otis have taken the unusual position of blending their family with adopted and biological children. We will also follow stories of several pregnant young women in residence at Gladney as they meet and choose familiies who will adpot their newborns.

1-11 Episode Eleven--11/23/2003

1-12 Episode Twelve--11/30/2003
Joyce Sterkel is the Director of a program that helps children who have suffered disrupted adoptions; she shares their stories as she helps her adopted 18-year-old son prepare to reunite with his biological sister.

1-13 Episode Thirteen--12/07/2003
As licensed foster care providers, Shari and John have three boys (now 10,15,16) in their care. This story will detail the positive aspects of fostering as we see the second of the boys adopted and the heartbreak of dealing with the third boy who is enormously disruptive in the household. Also, a look at foster care through a portrait of Glen, age 12, languishing in the system and unable to find a permanent family. And a portrait of Shane Salter, who spent most of his youth in the system and aged out without ever finding a family.