Adoptive Families Today: Chicago's Top Adoption Support Organizations Unite to Host Midwest Regional Adoption Conference.

Business Editors/Family & Lifestyle Writers

SCHAUMBURG, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 6, 2001

Conference 2001 Features More Than 40 Workshops

Offering a Broad Range of Information on Adoption

Two of the Chicago area's most active adoption support organizations announced today their plans to co-host a one-day Midwest regional conference on adoption. Scheduled for Sunday, November 4, 2001, Conference 2001 will be offered by the two non-profit groups: Adoptive Families Today (AFT), and Stars of David International's Chicago-area chapter.

Targeted toward both adoptive and pre-adoptive families and individuals, as well as adoption professionals, the conference will feature more than 40 workshops from both nationally renowned and local experts in the field of adoption. Topics will include the various types of adoption, open adoption, medical and developmental issues associated with adoption, the road from foster care to adoption, Jewish adoption issues, legal aspects of adoption, parenting issues and single parent adoption.

This conference features keynote speaker Rolando Leal, humorist, motivational speaker and adoptive father of 14 children, who will speak on "It Doesn't Matter Where You Come From, It Matters Where You Are Going!" Other expert presenters in the field of adoption include: Laurie C. Miller, MD, the Director of the International Adoption Clinic, TUFTS New England Medical Center in Boston, MA; Jane Brown, MSW, a writer and adoption educator from Scottsdale, AZ; and Ira J. Chasnoff, MD, a leading national authority on fetal alcohol syndrome in children, and the Medical Director of the Child Study Center in Chicago, IL.

The conference will be held at Motorola, Inc.'s Galvin Center for Continuing Education in Schaumburg, Illinois. Conference organizers expect approximately 500 people from throughout the Midwest will participate in this event. This is the ninth annual conference organized by Adoptive Families Today.

According to Pat Paprocki, Co-Chairperson of Adoptive Families Today and member of the Conference 2001 Steering Committee, "By joining together with another active and committed adoption organization, we are able to offer attendees the latest and most comprehensive information on adoption."

"Adoption affects everyone today, from adoptive parents, birthparents and children, to friends, relatives, neighbors and schools of those who are also touched by adoption." Said Judy Stigger, Curriculum Director of The Cradle, "Events such as Conference 2001 are just what's needed to build a better understanding of the issues facing adoptive families throughout their lives."

About Conference 2001

Conference 2001 runs from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 4. Registration begins at 8:00 a.m. Admission to the conference is $70 per person, or $125 per couple. For more information about Conference 2001, please call [phone], or visit http://www.adoptivefamiliestoday.org/, or http://starsofdavid.org.

About the Organizations

Adoptive Families Today (AFT) is a non-profit support group for adoptive and pre-adoptive families and adoption professionals in the Chicago metropolitan area. For more information about AFT, please call [phone] or visit the website listed above.

Stars of David International, Inc.: The Jewish Adoption Network is a non-profit organization providing a compassionate network of adoption information, support and education to prospective parents, adoptive families, adult adoptees, birth families, and the Jewish community. For more information on Stars of David, please call [phone], or visit the website listed above.