Last year a large number of U.S. families who have adopted a child were met with a surprise adoption credit and this year that credit is back, allowing anyone who has adopted a child in the last six years to claim a $13,360 tax credit, an increase of $190 compared to last year.

While the adoption credit has been available since 1997 it was originally a non-refundable credit which in turn meant it would offset any taxes owed and the rest would carry over until the next year with no extra credit given.

As part of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act of 2010 that credit became refundable with money going directly into a taxpayer’s pocket.

The credit has been largely seen as a “godsend” for families who have adopted special needs children. While some families who adopt special needs children are able to receive a refund for adoption expenses the $13,360 refund ensures that money is available to help with a child’s care.

In the meantime tax experts warn that claiming the credit will likely mean an IRS audit since the refund is so large and could be abused by non-child adopting taxpayers.  In fact the Government Accountability Office found that “considerable” delays have been witnessed because of the high level of audits surrounding adoption refund requests. The agency says 68% of nearly 100,000 returns featuring the credit were audited but only 17% required that taxpayers make larger payments then originally anticipated.

In the meantime IRS officials have updated the information on its website this year to make sure all required forms are completed and sent in.

The Adoption Tax Credit is only valid for parents who adopted a baby that is already a U.S. citizen. Looks like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are out of luck.

$13,000 Adoption Tax Credit Still Available, Offers Even Bigger Return For Parents is a post from: The Inquisitr

Drew Barrymore adopted a dog on Sunday with fiancé Will Kopelman. The couple were spotted together as they adopted an 8-week-old rescue puppy from the Bark n’ Bitches humane pet shop in Hollywood, California.

Barrymore has long been an animal rescue advocate and dog lover but for Kopelman this is a first dog for the New York City native.

The couple apparently found the dog on PetFinder.com then headed to the pet shop for a meet and greet.

Speaking to PEOPLE about the adoption Bark n’ Bitches owner Shannon von Roemer said:

“They really were very thoughtful and not impulsive about making the decision,” while adding,  ”Drew, being such a huge dog fanatic, was great to Will. She really wanted him to feel it out and make the decision.”

The cute little guy is a shepherd mix named Oliver who was left outside a Los-Angeles-area shelter in a box.  It turns out Barrymore isn’t the only celebrity involved in the pups lives, they were fostered by Twilight actress Nikki Reed who also said a last goodbye to Oliver on Sunday.

Barrymore hasn’t seemed happier then she has appeared lately, talking on the Ellen show she said “Ollie” hit the jackpot and that her  fiancé is “a good man” and He’s a good person and I just feel really lucky and really happy and really calm. Which is a really wonderful feeling.”

Heck adopting Oliver gave her a more stable “man” then Barrymore’s second husband Tom Green.

Do you think Barrymore adopted Oliver as part of her “nesting” ritual with soon to be husband Will Kopelman?

Drew Barrymore Adopts A Dog With Fiancé Will Kopelman is a post from: The Inquisitr

Could you imagine seeking out your long lost mom at the age of 77, and finding her alive and well?

That happened. It’s a pretty astounding story, one with a sad beginning and middle but a really happy (against all odds) ending. Minka Disbrow became a mom against her will at the age of 17, after a traumatic rape in 1928 when she was 16. Attacked along with a friend, Disbrow learned, much to her confusion, that she was pregnant. Her Dutch immigrant parents sent her to a Lutheran home for unwed mothers, and the teen mom soon gave birth to a baby girl she named Betty Jane.

Disbrow rescinded custody of baby Betty Jane to a local couple, a pastor and his wife, retaining only a black and white picture of the baby swaddled in blankets. And she later married a wartime pilot and fruit salesman, worked as a seamstress and had two more kids. But Disbrow never stopped looking for Betty Jane, faithfully writing letters to the adoption agency in hopes of finding her baby. Decades passed, and somewhat heartbreakingly, Disbrow tells the Daily Mail she prayed that one of her queries after Betty Jane would result in locating her daughter:

‘Lord, if you would just let me see her,’ Mrs Disbrow remembered praying. ‘I promise you I will never bother her.’

In 2006, when Disbrow was in her mid-nineties, she received an initially troubling call from a man in Alabama, asking some probing questions. But the man asked if she wished to speak to Betty Jane, now named Ruth Lee. It turned out that the blonde-haired baby girl had been adopted by a Norwegian family, had gone on to marry and have six kids (one of whom was astronaut Mark Lee) and began her search for her adoptive mother after looking into her familial medical history in her 70s.

Lee is now 82, and she had this to say about finally reuniting with her biological mom:

‘It has been such a surreal, amazing experience that I still think sometimes that I will wake up and it will just be a beautiful dream.’

Minka Disbrow Finds Adopted Daughter at 94, Celebrates 100th Birthday With Long-Lost Daughter is a post from: The Inquisitr

The German Shepherd who played Sirius Black’s animagus form in the Harry Potter movies has been put up for adoption.

The dogs owner, stuntman Paul Thompan told the Daily Mail he can no longer give his the dog the home it needs.

I found myself spending a lot of time away from home,” Thompson told the paper, “The dogs needed more attention then I could give. It was a difficult decision to make but one I had to accept was best for the dogs.”

Here’s a cute little description written about Berry the German Shepherd:

“I am a German Shepherd and my Dad got me as a puppy, He did lots of exciting things like being a stunt man and animal training for films. That’s probably how I got my part. I love people and my best friend is Porridge who is 13 human years and who I live with. Porridge has also been in some films. Both of us are a bit wobbly in our older years but we still love life.”

Anyone interested in adopting Berry (if he hasn’t been already) is urged to visit GermanShepherdRescue.co.uk.

Just remember not to count him out at his older age, he could very possibly be magic, you just never know.

Harry Potter Films Dog Up For Adoption, Berry Played Sirius Black’s Animagus Form is a post from: The Inquisitr

When this story first popped up yesterday afternoon, my first reaction was skepticism.

Then again, stranger, grosser things have happened.  All stories seem to point back to a single source (and picture) from New Idea, a New Zealand gossip magazine. But the couple, Pearl Carter, 72, and her 26-year-old grandson, Phil Bailey, are from Indiana. Hmmm…

According to the original article, Carter gave her daughter Lynette up for adoption when she was 18. While the pair were never reunited despite extensive searching on Carter’s part, Bailey tracked his grandmother down after his mother died of brain cancer. (Cue porn music.) If Carter is to be believed, the attraction was instantaneous, and part of a well-known phenomenon:

‘We both cried but kept talking for three hours,’ she says. ‘When he emailed me a photo, I thought what a handsome and sexy man he was before pinching myself – he was my grandson!’

Confused, Pearl talked to a friend, who told her about an article she’d read on Genetic Sexual Attraction (GSA), which occurs when close relatives meet as adults and are attracted to each other.

Apparently, the feeling was mutual:

‘From the first moment that I saw him, I knew we would never have a grandmother-grandson relationship,’ Pearl remembers happily. ‘For the first time in years I felt sexually alive.’

Phil admits that he had the same feelings towards Pearl.

‘I wanted to kiss her there and then,’ he says. ‘My feelings were overwhelming.’

While a lot of the story hinges on the fact that the couple is now “expecting a child,” the baby was conceived with a donor egg and Bailey’s sperm.

Pearl says:

‘I am finally going to be a mum and not forced to give up my child. Phil’s going to be a great dad. I never in a million years thought at 72 I’d be “pregnant” and in love with my grandson. I make no apologies and I believe God’s given me a second chance.’

While it certainly makes for interesting and stomach turning reading, I’d like to again point out that media interest has been considerable, and this “couple” have not surfaced for a single follow up interview.

Is a 72-year-old woman having an affair and a baby with her grandson? is a post from: The Inquisitr

As Haitians struggle to survive and aid teams wrestle with a shattered infrastructure in the leveled country, the plight of orphans now left to even more dire circumstances has been a concern of many people across the world.

Searches on “how to adopt” orphans from Haiti and some centering around the fate of children in pending adoptions are skyrocketing. No larger initiatives are in place to find homes for the children, many of whom resided in now destroyed orphanages with caregivers who were killed or severely injured in the quake and chaotic aftermath. Although the immediate impulse may be to move the children to safety in other nations, the possibility of destroying families or poorly and hastily arranged adoptions is a concern, too.

53 orphans were flown from Haiti to Pittsburgh today, most already in the process of being adopted and almost all under the age of 4. 53 beds await the kids in a children’s hospital in Pittsburgh, each with a single teddy bear. While that number may seem high, there were an estimated 380,000 orphaned children in Haiti before the quake hit. The fate of the hundreds of thousands of children not in the process of being internationally adopted remains unknown. No current plans are in place to place the children, who number many more with quake death tolls estimated at around 200,000.

What will happen to Haiti’s orphans? is a post from: The Inquisitr

A Michigan woman used the internet to find a son she gave up for adoption a decade ago, and now she is accused of seducing the teenage boy- her biological son.

Aimee Louise Sword, 35, is accused of finding her long-lost son over the internet, and then having sex with him. Police say that she surrendered on April 24th, after Child Protective Services reported the abuse to detectives. She has been charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct in the case.

Sword’s lawyer says his client maintains her “presumption of innocence,”  and that the accusations have been very difficult for her. She remains free on bail. Due to the nature of the case and the boy’s age, further details are not available.

[Source: The Oakland Press]

Woman reunites with young son over the internet, has sex with him is a post from: The Inquisitr

…and the tabloids imploded.

The Telegraph is reporting that upon hearing the news of the Suleman octuplets, Michael Jackson offered to adopt the eight children to “give Blanket siblings.” Suleman’s lawyer Victor Munoz says he declined the “creepy” offer on Suleman’s behalf. (Because she’s not creepy at all?)

The obsessed with children pop star apparently had three representatives reach out to the Octomom camp before personally calling to speak with the unemployed mother of fourteen children. Jackson was said to be “concerned” regarding reports that Suleman planned to give Malia, Jonah, Isaiah, Nariah, Jeremiah, McCai, Josiah and Noah up for adoption. Because that would be scandalous!

From the article:

According to Munoz, speaking to the Daily Mirror, Jackson told him “Blanket would love to have more siblings”.

“I could take care of all the babies, they could live with me and wouldn’t need for anything. They would have a bright future,” he is said to have told him.

“I want to take care of Nadya. She will be happy and won’t have to worry about caring for her children any more.”

Munoz said that “Michael clearly thought Nadya was unfit and decided he wanted to help [the] children,” but also indicated that the tone of the calls became less about concern and more like a sales pitch. Munoz said the last call indicated that Suleman would “be compensated” in an adoption scenario.

Michael Jackson made adoption offer to Nadya Suleman is a post from: The Inquisitr

Madoona with David Banda in Malawi

Madoona has already one infamously adopted child from Malawi, David Banda.

Malawian official Penston Kilembe says the split with Guy, 40, means the adoption cannot be approved.
‘One fundamental condition in scrutinising adoptions is the connectedness of a family,’ he says.

Via Now

The Child Services Director then goes on to suggest that Madonna could be responsible for the divorce? On Guy Ritchie’s payroll perhaps?

‘We can’t approve a child to go into a broken family because the divorce could be the result of the behaviour of the party trying to adopt. Madonna should forget this one.’

We at the Inquisitr agree, every child should have access to a pie and sauce; its a fundamental human right.

So the innocent victim in all of this wrangling is Mercy James. Where are Madonna’s pals when you need them? We are looking at you Gwyneth Paltrow. Your brood is not very multicultural.

Madonna: Malawi says No! and then blames her for divorce! is a post from: The Inquisitr

Madonna’s adoption ruling has been postponed. . . again. It was expected to wrap up today, but as things go that should have been finalized yesterday (and by yesterday I mean last year), it wasn’t.

It looks like the Human Rights Commission has a bit of investigating left to do, since Malawian laws don’t grant non-residents adoption rights in the country. Regardless of the drama, lawyer Alan Chinula stated that “I’m confident that the adoption will go through because my client has met all the requirements and the government is satisfied that she qualifies.”

Confident or not, things are looking messy. Another hearing will be scheduled for next week.

Image: AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo

Madonna’s Adoption Ruling Postponed is a post from: The Inquisitr