Part of how teens form identity is by finding ways they are alike and different from their family. They may want to search for their genetic relatives to figuring out who they are and how to emotionally put pieces in place.
“5 Things I Wish My White Parents Knew”
Transracial adoptees often grow up knowing that their families love them, but not truly feeling included or close to them. Here’s what would have helped in raising a black child in a white family and a racist world.
Navigating the Teen Years, Part 2: Maintaining Your Emotional Connection
Teens don't tend to talk with their friends about their feelings about being adopted, being teased, or other tough topics. But if you have a healthy, trusting relationship, they'll open up to you. An adoption therapist advises on maintaining an empathic connection with your teen.
“Seeing the Bigger Picture in Adoption”
I used to see adoption from only one viewpoint—that of the adoptive parents. But working in the field before becoming an adoptive mother opened my eyes to how complex and bittersweet adoption can be.
Ask AF: Family Interactions After Kinship Adoption
"We are adopting my sister-in-law's teenage son after fostering him for five years. What can I say to her at family gatherings, to family who still don't get that we'll be his legal parents—and to my son, who hears all of this?"
Ask AF: Transitioning Children to Calling Us “Mom” and “Dad”
"My husband and I are working to adopt from foster care. How do we transition a child from calling us our first names to calling us 'Mom' and 'Dad'?"
Parent-to-Parent: My Best Domestic Adoption Travel Advice
If you traveled domestically to adopt, what's one piece of advice you can give others as they prepare to do the same? See parents' answers.
“I’m Disabled. I Adopted.”
An accident left the author disabled, but not defeated. Having a physical disability doesn't have to prevent you from adopting.
Your Guide to Adoption Travel
The big day is finally here. Referral or hospital address in hand, you're ready to meet your child. But before you board that plane, learn from our experts (read: adoptive parents) how to make your adoption trip the journey of a lifetime.
When Parents Divorce
The breakup of a family can be especially hard for adopted teens. Here's why.
Letting Teens Take the Reins
As teen's desire more control over their lives, they want to be the decision-makers in determining contact with birth family.
Connect with Your Teen at Family Movie Night
Can't get your teen to talk? Rent a movie.
Does Your Teen Fear Going to College?
Help your teen adoptee overcome fear of leaving home with this advice.
“What Do I Tell My Teen About His Birth Father?”
Your teen will want to know more about his birth father—and his birth parents' relationship.
[Book Review] A Ghost at Heart’s Edge: Stories and Poems of Adoption
While adoption as a plot device pervades popular culture from Shirley Temple to Star Wars, it's rarely the stuff of serious contemporary fiction or poetry. Or so I thought until I read A Ghost at Heart's Edge, the dazzling literary anthology edited by Susan Ito and Tina Cervin.
[Book Review] My Alternate Life
Trinity B. Jones is a foster kid who's "been to enough adoption picnics to know that adoptive parents want a cute little baby to hold, not a 15-year-old with brown skin, a 34-C, and a nose ring."
Talking to Teens Who Don’t Want to Talk to You
It's important to look for those natural, easy times when personal, tender issues can be touched upon.
[EXCERPT] The Art of Waiting: “Baby Fever”
Belle Boggs's The Art of Waiting sets her own struggles with infertility within a larger framework of sociological, cultural, biological, and literary attitudes toward reproduction and motherhood. In this excerpt, she explores "Baby Fever," the longing have a child that sent many of us on our infertility and adoption journeys.
“My Child is Being Teased at School”
Sometimes school brings tough situations, like teasing, tricky assignments, and nosy questions. When should kids handle things on their own, and when should a parent step in?
“Are Adoptive Moms Allowed to Have a Bad Day?”
After finally realizing my dream of becoming a mother, I found what most new parents find—along with the bliss come days filled with crying, spit-up, and leaking diapers. But when I dared to vent, I was chided: “You wanted to adopt…you asked for this!”