Your teen will want to know more about his birth father—and his birth parents' relationship.
Going It Alone? Support Options for Singles
"How do I do this alone?" Single parent expert Lee Varon answers.
Child-Created Lifebooks
Even if you've made a scrapbook or lifebook for your child, kids this age like to tell their own stories. Here's how to help.
When Teens Find Birth Family Online
Got a Web-savvy teen on your hands? Here's how to set safety guidelines for online birth family contact.
Explaining a Birth Parent’s Drug or Alcohol Abuse
"How can we explain birth family's drinking or drug use?" Older child adoption expert Gregory Keck, Ph.D. answers a reader's question.
The First Year of an Open Adoption: Four Families Share
Families with different levels of contact offer glimpses into their relationships with birth parents during their first year home.
Ask AF: Sex Education Assistance
Can you recommend some books that will help us explain the facts of life?
Ask AF: Explaining Biological Siblings to an Adoptive Sibling
We have an eight-year-old biological child and a six-month-old we adopted as a newborn. Our younger son has several biological siblings—and I'm wondering how to explain this to my older son.
Ask AF: How Grandparents Can Support Older Child Attachment
My son and daughter-in-law recently adopted a five-year-old from Ethiopia. They told us we cannot hold, hug, or kiss our grandson.
Ask AF: Too Young to Understand Birth Family?
We have an open adoption with our 30-month-old son's birth family. Last night we were looking at a photo album.
Expectant and Birth Parent Rights
Openness in adoption should begin long before the expectant mother and adoptive family navigate ongoing contact. An agency and an attorney discuss best practices for working with prospective birth parents.
“My Little Man’s Hair”
Sam's hair is close-cut and precisely edged. Looking at it from any angle, you can see that this child's mother knows how to care for his hair. This has not always been the case.
“Embracing Our Daughter’s Culture…at Dinner”
When we adopted our daughter from China, our appetites were insatiable. It started a family tradition of celebrating culture and heritage at dinner time.
“Learning to Love in Our New Family”
I had gone to the end of the world to find my baby. So why didn't we bond, and why didn't I feel like a mother?
Impassable Borders to Interstate Foster Adoption
"Interstate barriers keep children in foster care, while willing parents are ignored."
Encouraging Healthy Eating Habits
Now is the time to instill healthy eating habits, in meal choices and snack practices.
Getting the Grandparents on Board
Their grandparents' love secures our children a place in the family. Here's how to teach the older generation about adoption.
Legal Guide to Naming Your Child
What do we need to know about naming our child?
“Introducing Tessa to Her Birth Father”
After seven years, we decided to bring our daughter's birth father back into her life. But was she ready for him?
“Knowing Our Son’s Birth Father”
It has been hard to watch Kenneth struggle as a birth dad in an open adoption. I wish my husband and I could make it easier for him, and for our son.