We may tell you that we are OK when we’re really falling apart. We’re worried that, if we are honest about how difficult parenting through the transition is, you won’t understand and that you’ll think we’re nuts.
[BOOK EXCERPT] Everything You Ever Wanted
In this excerpt from her candid, hilarious, inspiring adoption memoir, Jillian Lauren explains how she and her husband addressed their son's trauma and special needs and turned things around for him at home and at school. Accompanying the excerpt is a Q&A with the author.
Ask AF: Openness in Foster Adoption
Answers to your parenting questions.
Ask AF: Navigating Disagreements with the Birth Family
Answers to your parenting questions.
Two Adoptees on Going “Home” to China, Again
After a birth country visit to China that was too much, too soon for my seven-year-old daughter, she and a friend returned on their own terms as teens. The trip helped them imagine what their lives might have been and explore their Chinese-American identities.
Will We Live Happily Ever After? 15 Adoptees on Adoption
My experience is that families are families, period. It doesn’t matter if the people in the family share DNA. It doesn’t matter if kids have come from their mother’s bodies or not. Kids are kids, and parents are parents.
Intercountry Adoption Updates, Winter 2016
Haiti and India have recently changed their adoption laws.
Readers Share: Funniest Comments About Adoption
Parents remember the wackiest thing their child ever said about adoption.
Surrogate Sues to Keep Genetically Unrelated Baby
A woman hired as a surrogate wants to keep one of the children she's carrying, against the wishes of the genetic father.
Celebrating Chinese New Year
Learn how to celebrate Chinese New Year and welcome the year of the Monkey with your family on February 8, 2016.
[Book Review] The Unofficial Guide to Adoptive Parenting
The author of No Matter What returns with a new book bursting with real-world advice.
Is This Normal? Speech Delays, Learning Disabilities, and Complications
What do I do if my child has emotional, behavioral, or academic problems?
Who Needs to Know Your Child’s Adoption Story?
Should I tell my child's doctor she was adopted? What about her school?
Webinar Replay – Parenting the Hurt Child
View the replay of the "Parenting the Hurt Child" webinar. Regina M. Kupecky, LSW, guides parents in understanding a newly adopted older child's behavior and discuss what will work (and what to avoid) to help him heal and attach.
Parents Share: Creating Our Child’s Adoption Story
Parents share how they impart and strengthen their child's adoption story.
[Book Review] Attaching Through Love, Hugs and Play
The author of Attaching in Adoption has released another book on bonding at any age.
What Do I Tell My Child?
Speaking about birth history helps all family members get used to the words and narrative, and lets your child know that he or she can always come forward with questions and emotions about birth parents.
Families Share: Our Open Adoption Experience
"The best part about being a birth mother in an open adoption is that I am at peace. Colin and I are still a part of each other’s lives, yet he is so happy and deeply rooted in his family that sometimes I forget that he’s not their flesh and blood. Knowing he has the life I wanted for him allows me to move forward in mine." —Jen
The Basics of Open Adoption
What is "open adoption" — and what might it mean for your family?
“Our Leap of Faith: Finding Birth Relatives in Russia”
We made the trip, unsure whether we would even find Marina's orphanage, and ended up finding the answers to her deepest questions.