An elephant named Hope guides young children through adoption's big questions in this delightful book.
Ask AF: Referring to the Birth Mother
Answers to your parenting questions.
Deciding to Adopt: What About Birth Families?
“We cannot build healthy relationships with our children on secrecy and lies—and this includes lies of omission.”
Noteworthy New Reads Published in 2015
Need something to add to your reading list? Check out our editor-curated list of the most noteworthy books about adoption from 2015.
Is This Normal? Speech Delays, Learning Disabilities, and Complications
What do I do if my child has emotional, behavioral, or academic problems?
Parents Share: Our Bonding Experience
Every family bonds differently. Here, readers share what worked for them.
Referrals, Matches, and Prenatal Drug or Alcohol Use
Before you choose your adoption path, talk to an adoption pediatrician about risk factors and complications related to prenatal drug and alcohol use.
Can I Adopt a Healthy Child?
All parents, biological or adoptive, want perfect children, and all realistic parents understand that there is some risk in having children by any method.
Ask AF: News of a Birth Parent’s Death
Answers to your parenting questions.
[Book Excerpt] God and Jetfire
In April, Jonathan was nine months old. The colic had subsided, and he was practicing language that Paula described as “the funniest little combination of mumbling and humming.” She said his voice was very much a little boy’s voice.
Parent-to-Parent: Contact with Birth Siblings
We asked readers, Does your child have biological siblings? Do they live with their birth parents or with another adoptive family? How do you stay in touch? Here's what you said.
Summer Reading Special
AF's 2011 picks for best adoption books.
“From Heartbreak to Hope”
When our first adoption match fell through, we were devastated.
Ask AF: Acting Out After Birth Mother Visits
Answers to your parenting questions.
Relating to Relatives
There's much parents can do to help their teens feel they belong within the larger family network.
Deciding to Adopt with Reluctant Relatives
Many, many couples are deeply divided about adoption. Marriage counselors and social workers say the reluctant partner is usually the male, whose concerns may range from simple ambivalence about parenthood in general to specific concerns about loving a child who’s not related by blood.
“Dear Mom of an Adopted Child”
I knew you right away. I recognize the fierce determination. You are the kind of woman who Makes.Things.Happen. After all, you made this happen, this family you have.
How We Decided
No one adoption route is right for every family. AF readers describe the thinking that went behind the route they chose.
The First Conversation with a Potential Birth Parent
What matters most is not a list of questions or negotiating points, but finding a way to meet genuinely as people.
Fast Facts: Adopting a Newborn in the U.S.
The annual number of infants adopted domestically (excluding foster and relative adoption) is estimated to be around 18,000 — far greater than the annual number of international adoptions. Moreover, the process of adopting a newborn in the United States can go more swiftly than you may imagine.