Adoptive Families

9 Pre-Adopt Must-Reads

February 25, 2025

Never Too Old for Family – Myths and Realities of Foster Adoption
Helping Your Child Cope with Intrusive Questions
How to Adopt from Foster Care
“An Unmatched Set” Can I Love a Child Who Doesn’t Look Like me?
The Reluctant Spouse
What Do I Tell My Child?
Home Study 101: Everything You Need to Prepare
7 Common Questions When You’re Deciding to Adopt
The Top Ten Myths (and Facts) About Adoption

Adoptive Families

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The Process
- Share Your Story: Who Helped With Your Adoption? - April 1, 2017
- Ask AF: Why Just One Adoption Attorney Won’t Do - July 8, 2016
- Ask AF: Adoption Fraud - February 29, 2016
- What Happens if my Agency or Attorney Screws Up? - December 21, 2015
- Questions to Ask Your Potential Adoption Attorney - December 18, 2015
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- “For Their Children” - October 3, 2018
- “Uncharted Territory” - December 19, 2017
- Parent-to-Parent: Preparing for the Adoption Home Study Visit - November 16, 2016
- Baby Safety Tips - July 27, 2016
- Ask AF: Revealing Health Problems During a Home Study - July 23, 2016
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- Ask AF: How to Cope with the Disappointment of Not Being Chosen by an Expectant Mother - June 6, 2019
- Parents Share: The “Match Meeting” with an Expectant Mother - April 23, 2019
- Ask AF: Advice for Our “Ice Breaker” Meeting with a 10-Year-Old Boy? - January 29, 2019
- Parents Share: Our Last-Minute “Stork Drop” Adoption - January 29, 2019
- Parents Share: Deciding What Age Child to Adopt - October 29, 2018
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- Ask AF: How to Cope with the Disappointment of Not Being Chosen by an Expectant Mother - June 6, 2019
- “The Advice I Wish I’d Gotten While Waiting to Adopt” - January 29, 2019
- Ask AF: Feeling Depressed When Friends Announce They’re Pregnant - November 28, 2018
- Ask AF: Responding to Insensitive and Discouraging Comments During the Wait - May 24, 2018
- Ask AF: Because Baby Showers Are Bad Enough Without Nosy Questions… - March 16, 2018
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- “The Advice I Wish I’d Gotten While Waiting to Adopt” - January 29, 2019
- From Only Child to Oldest - October 4, 2018
- How to Photograph Your Adoption Trip - March 30, 2018
- 10 Tips for Adoptive Parents - March 5, 2018
- Ask AF: When and How to Find a Pediatrician During the Adoption Process - February 21, 2018
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- Ask AF: What Adoptive Parents Need to Know About Hepatitis B - September 28, 2016
- List of Recommended Post-Arrival Medical Evaluations - September 17, 2016
- Questioning Medical Myths About Adoption - August 3, 2016
- Ask the Doctor: Pre-Adoption Medical Assessment - July 25, 2016
- Ask AF: Building a Good Relationship with Your Pediatrician - July 7, 2016
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Bonding
- “Breathing” - January 14, 2021
- Thank You, Bàba - September 22, 2020
- “Finding My Inner Mom” - June 6, 2019
- “How We Bonded with Our Child” - October 27, 2018
- “Fool for Love” - October 2, 2018
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- “Breathing” - January 14, 2021
- Thank You, Bàba - September 22, 2020
- “From Waiting Mom to Flexible Working Mom” - February 21, 2020
- Ask AF: What to Do the First Time a Foster Child Comes to Stay with Us? - April 23, 2019
- Ask AF: Rivalry with a Newly Adopted Sibling - January 29, 2019
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- “Finally Father’s Day” - October 1, 2018
- “Baby Benjamin’s Adoption Day” - August 23, 2018
- “Motherhood, Cleaved.” - July 24, 2018
- Parents Share: Celebrating with an Adoption Shower - May 24, 2018
- Adoption Day Gifts From Russia, with Love - February 13, 2018
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- “It Takes No Special Power to Love a Child” - July 30, 2021
- “On Parenting from Afar” - February 21, 2020
- Ask AF: What to Do the First Time a Foster Child Comes to Stay with Us? - April 23, 2019
- Ask AF: How to Discourage Indiscriminate Affection - April 23, 2019
- Media Focus: Lissa Schneckenburger - February 28, 2019
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Talking
- Ask AF: Should We Tell Our Child She Has a Birth Sibling if They Can’t Be in Touch? - June 6, 2019
- 8 Keys to Talking About Adoption - April 23, 2019
- Ask AF: Seven-Year-Old Has Been Saying She Doesn’t “Belong Here” - February 28, 2019
- Ask AF: Worried My Daughter Will Think Her Birth Mom Is More “Fun” - October 29, 2018
- Ask AF: How to Help Our Teen Through Depression? - October 5, 2018
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- Parents Share: No End to the Nosy Adoption Questions - February 21, 2020
- “I Can Still Be Shocked” – Encountering Ignorance About Adoption and Race - June 6, 2019
- Ask AF: How to Discourage Indiscriminate Affection - April 23, 2019
- How Adoption Grew Secret - October 20, 2018
- Support Groups for Adoptive Parents and Families - October 6, 2018
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- “Sliding Doors” - April 23, 2019
- “This Is For Real” - April 15, 2018
- “Finding Peace Through the Adoptee Community” - January 24, 2018
- Teens Speak Out About Open Adoption - January 17, 2018
- “Mom, Were You Alive During Woodstock?” - November 30, 2017
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- Capturing Your Child’s Journey Through Life - September 21, 2018
- Creating a History for Your Teen During Infancy - December 29, 2016
- Child-Created Lifebooks - June 20, 2016
- Adoption Scrapbooks Made Easy - June 17, 2016
- A Tale to Treasure - June 12, 2016
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- Ask AF: Worried My Daughter Will Think Her Birth Mom Is More “Fun” - October 29, 2018
- Ask AF: Sharing Difficult Details with a Seven-Year-Old - September 26, 2018
- Ask AF: How to Tell My Son That I Can’t Adopt His Biological Sister? - August 28, 2018
- The Talk: Revealing the Realities of Racism to My African-American Child - May 30, 2018
- Ask AF: How to Explain to My Child That His Birth Mother Was Addicted to Drugs? - May 24, 2018
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Transracial
- An Overview of Heritage Travel - October 19, 2018
- Books and Articles for Introducing Race and Racism to Children - September 16, 2018
- “Bagels and Pho” - September 12, 2018
- “Back to Bucaramanga” – Meeting My Daughter’s Birth Mother in Colombia - August 28, 2018
- AF’s, Complete Guide to Heritage Travel - August 18, 2018
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- The Grammar of Untold Stories: An Interview with Lois Melina - March 17, 2021
- How to Be an Anti-Racist Adoptive Parent - August 7, 2020
- Mothering Children of Color Who Are Becoming Adults - June 12, 2020
- “I Can Still Be Shocked” – Encountering Ignorance About Adoption and Race - June 6, 2019
- “Home Safe Every Night” - October 29, 2018
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- “Almost Famous” - February 28, 2019
- Connecting With the Black Community - May 23, 2018
- “How I Parent My Transracial Family” - October 30, 2017
- “Keeping Up Appearances” – Our Skin and 4C Hair Care Routine - October 24, 2017
- “Memory Givers” - September 1, 2017
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Openness
- Ask AF: Letting a Preteen Take the Lead in a Birth Parent Relationship - February 21, 2020
- “A New Path in Our Adoption Journey” - April 23, 2019
- Parents Share: Birth Sibling Connections - November 28, 2018
- [EXCERPT] Those Three Words - October 29, 2018
- Parents Share: “Our Open Adoption Over the Years” - August 28, 2018
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- The Grammar of Untold Stories: An Interview with Lois Melina - March 17, 2021
- Thank You, Bàba - September 22, 2020
- Ask AF: Should We Tell Our Child She Has a Birth Sibling if They Can’t Be in Touch? - June 6, 2019
- “A New Path in Our Adoption Journey” - April 23, 2019
- Ask AF: Should I Try to Contact My Children’s Birth Siblings? - February 28, 2019
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- [EXCERPT] Those Three Words - October 29, 2018
- Ask AF: Explaining to a Child That His Sibling Will Be Adopted By Another Family - December 22, 2017
- “Letting Go After Months of Struggling to Parent” - May 9, 2017
- Bringing Birth Siblings Into Our Children’s Stories—and Lives - January 25, 2017
- The Birth Parent Perspective: Stats and Chart - October 19, 2016
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- “Sliding Doors” - April 23, 2019
- Ask AF: Should I Try to Contact My Children’s Birth Siblings? - February 28, 2019
- Ask AF: Worried My Daughter Will Think Her Birth Mom Is More “Fun” - October 29, 2018
- How Adoption Grew Secret - October 20, 2018
- “Back to Bucaramanga” – Meeting My Daughter’s Birth Mother in Colombia - August 28, 2018
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Parenting
- Mothering Children of Color Who Are Becoming Adults - June 12, 2020
- “From Waiting Mom to Flexible Working Mom” - February 21, 2020
- Ask AF: Letting a Preteen Take the Lead in a Birth Parent Relationship - February 21, 2020
- “On Parenting from Afar” - February 21, 2020
- “She’s Leaving Home” - February 28, 2019
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- Parents Share: What My Child’s Friends Want to Know About Adoption - September 26, 2018
- “Life of the Party” - September 26, 2018
- Ask AF: How to Choose a School for Our Transracially Adopted Child? - August 28, 2018
- “Overcoming All Odds” - March 26, 2018
- 3 Tasks for College-Bound Adoptees - February 21, 2018
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- “It Takes No Special Power to Love a Child” - July 30, 2021
- “I Needed a Different Parenting Handbook…” – Parenting Children with FASD - June 6, 2019
- Ask AF: Worried My Daughter Will Think Her Birth Mom Is More “Fun” - October 29, 2018
- How to Raise a Bounce-Back Kid - October 25, 2018
- Raising a Child Who Loves Reading - October 24, 2018
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- “Breathing” - January 14, 2021
- “From Waiting Mom to Flexible Working Mom” - February 21, 2020
- 2019 Cover Photo Contest Winners - February 21, 2020
- Parents Share: How Is Parenting After Adoption Different? - February 28, 2019
- Ask AF: Should I Try to Contact My Children’s Birth Siblings? - February 28, 2019
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- Hosting Productive Play Dates - October 21, 2018
- Parents Share: What My Child’s Friends Want to Know About Adoption - September 26, 2018
- “But How Did He Know About My Mama?” - July 24, 2018
- The Wrong Crowd? - October 17, 2017
- Helping Teens with Transitions - September 6, 2017
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- Parent-to-Parent: Holiday Gifts for Your Child’s Birth Family - December 19, 2017
- “Anniversary” - February 21, 2017
- Parent-to-Parent: My Favorite Adoption Memory - January 23, 2017
- “My Christmas Dream Come True” - December 19, 2016
- “Mr. Tooth Fairy” - December 19, 2016
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- “It Takes No Special Power to Love a Child” - July 30, 2021
- “Breathing” - January 14, 2021
- 2019 Cover Photo Contest Winners - February 21, 2020
- 2018 Cover Photo Contest Winners - November 29, 2018
- “Finally Father’s Day” - October 1, 2018
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February 25, 2025

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“It Takes No Special Power to Love a Child”

The Grammar of Untold Stories: An Interview with Lois Melina

“Breathing”

Thank You, Bàba

How to Be an Anti-Racist Adoptive Parent

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