How can I bond with a child that “isn’t mine”?
Choosing a Referral or Expectant Mother Match: The Basics
What happens when you get a referral?
“My So-Called Friends”
The other day, I mentioned to a coworker that my husband and I were looking into international adoption. You'd have thought I said we were thinking of becoming terrorists. "What do you mean, you're going to adopt from Russia? What about all the kids in Milwaukee who need good homes?" she demanded indignantly.
Questions to Answer Before Your Home Study
Your home study will not only assess your ability to parent a child through adoption, it will also help you understand more about adoption and parenting.
Home Study 101: Everything You Need to Prepare
A home study is a document that says you can be a parent. What does that mean?
“Motherhood in the Balance”
I sat at the kitchen table, holding the phone receiver as I waited for Nancy, our social worker at the adoption agency, to come on the line. How could I tell her that I had just been diagnosed with bipolar disorder?
The Facts About Reactive Attachment Disorder
Child psychiatrists believe that children lay down emotional patterns, beginning in infancy. A child who does not experience consistent affection may never learn to feel or express affection for others. This syndrome is called “attachment disorder” or “reactive attachment disorder” (RAD).
Who Can Help Gay Families Adopt?
LGBT prospective parents may face extra hurdles because of a state’s adoption law, an agency’s philosophy, or the attitude of an individual social worker.
Adopting Internationally: The Basics
If this is your first adoption, choose a country with a long-standing, stable adoption process, and work with an agency licensed by the U.S. and by the sending country. International adoption can be complicated enough; don’t add extra uncertainty to the process.
Ask AF: Wanting to Be President
Answers to your parenting questions.
What If? Imagining Life in a Different Family
Sleepovers and play dates give our kids an intimate glimpse of life in a different family — and may prompt reflections and questions.
The Family Picture
Grade-schoolers need to know how they connect with their adoptive families.
Friendship Lessons
Expert tips for adoptive parents to help your child make and maintain peer relationships.
Ask AF: Cultural Connections
Answers to your parenting questions.
Explaining Troubling Birth Parent News
Tough topics can range from discontinued contact to a slip back into drug habits to unexpected medical problems.
6 Questions to Ponder Before Making a Homeland Trip
More and more families are finding that "going back," whether to San Antonio or San Salvador, gives their children a foundation for building identity.
“Our Stages of Labor and Delivery”
Although I did not endure physical childbirth, I know every emotion that pours in when motherhood begins.
“Visiting Our Daughter’s Orphanage”
One of the cold realities of adopting an older child from China is that she comes with a lot of questions, many of which you can’t answer.
“What Are the Chances We’ll Get ‘The Call’ This Week?”
I finally realized that this was "The Call" when my social worker said, “Do you remember when you said this would be the worst week for you to get picked by an expectant mother?"
“Our Love Stayed with Him”
As foster parents, you hope that the love and security you offer will stay in a child’s heart. When we reconnected with a boy we fostered through two reunifications 14 years ago, we found that it had.