COMMENT: I know this because it played a large part in destroying my mother's life.

Maggie gave birth to her daughter in 1964 in Otahuhu - and didn't see her for 18 years.

The inner strength of a little girl starved, beaten and imprisoned in a tiny urine-soaked closet amazed her rescuers.

The sister of the San Bernardino shooter has spent months trying to adopt her niece, but so far is only allowed to see her in six-hour regular visits.

In Australia a vet is calling for pet ownership to be restricted to permanent residents, after he rehomed a dog that was dumped on the streets by an international student.

An Aucklander adopted from a Russian orphanage 19 years ago has been reunited with her birth sister - live on Russian television.

Frustrated foster parents have to get permission every time their foster child needs major medical treatment, changes schools or the family move.

In my almost 40 years, I've only recently been able to talk about adoption honestly and openly. And it is incredibly difficult.

A woman who adopted a child has won the right to paid parental leave, after being told by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment that she wasn't eligible.

A bill which would allow a young New Zealander to have the names of both of her mothers on her birth certificate has passed its first hurdle in Parliament tonight.

Unmarried Kiwis are no longer able to adopt Russian children because New Zealand has legalised gay marriage.

A 7-year-old girl has been banned from entering New Zealand with her adopted parents because authorities say she is too sick to live here.

A Wairarapa school will be closed for its first day of term today so its pupils can attend the funeral of a 10-year-old schoolmate killed in a quad bike crash.

A Green MP says his bill to reform adoption law is much broader than gay adoption and will provide a much needed overhaul, including open adoptions.

What is it about New Year's Eve that prompts us to do (or at least toy with the idea of doing) something good or perhaps more meaningful with our lives?

More than 3300 dogs impounded in Auckland were destroyed in 2010-11.