Is it what you say, how early you say it, or how often you say it that matters most to your child? Barbara Russell gives tips on talking about adoption with your child.
“Worth the Risk” – Living Through a Failed Adoption
Our failed adoption left our hearts shattered. But, as we learned, you take this risk no matter how you come to be parents, whenever you choose to love someone or something other than yourself.
The Adoption Process from the Expectant Mother’s Perspective
What is it really like to decide on adoption, look through parent profiles to choose a family, and place your child in their arms—and how can the adoption process better serve these women?
News Briefs: State Adoption Law Updates, Spring 2016
Pennsylvania, Indiana, Florida, and Iowa all made or are considering changes to their state adoption laws in the beginning of 2016. Read on to learn more.
News Brief: For Some Parents, International Adoption Decision Reflects Racial Bias
A new study by the University of Vermont concluded that race plays a role for some parents who adopt internationally rather than domestically. Researchers conducted in-depth interviews with 41 mostly white parents who had, collectively, adopted 33 children of various ethnic and racial backgrounds from 10 different countries, as well as the United States.
Adoption Cost and Timing in 2014-2015
Each year, Adoptive Families polls newly formed families across the country to get actual information on the cost and length of time it took those families to complete their adoptions. We are grateful to every one of you who took our most recent Cost & Timing of Adoption Survey.
Ask AF: A Spouse’s Reluctance About Adoption
My husband is fearful of a damaged child and of disrupting our stable lives, and he refuses to discuss adoption.
Ask AF: Opening Contact
"We recently learned that our son's birth mother is having health problems. How do we tell him, and how can we ask for more contact?'
Ask AF: Step-Adoption and the Birth Family
Answers to your parenting questions.
Adoption Basics for Single Parents or Same Sex Couples
When non-traditional families are making the decision to adopt, the first questions they often have are, "How will my identity impact my adoption?"
Glossary of Adoption Terms
As you work on your adoption, never hesitate to ask your social worker, attorney, or adoption agency, "What exactly do you mean by that?"
“An Open Letter to Gramma B.”
You asked questions, but didn’t pry. You had brought gifts for your granddaughter, and I noticed that they were all things you had lovingly made or thought about carefully. The hour passed quickly and we said we’d be in touch.
Parent-to-Parent: The Hardest Part of the Adoption Process
Adoptive parents look back on the adoption process and share the hardest moments, from having to change routes to becoming parents overnight to seeing the birth mother say goodbye.
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.
Our Failed Adoption
When an adoption falls through, it can be devastating. Here, real parents share their tales of heartbreak — and eventual recovery.
How Can you Help Your International Adoption Succeed?
What goes wrong in international adoptions — and how can you help yours go through?
What if My Adoption Fails?
Adoptions fall apart at different stages (with different legal consequences), and there are different reasons for each kind of failure.
Our Adoption Referral Story
AF readers share how they reacted when they received their adoption referral.
Questions to Ask Your Potential Adoption Attorney
“Niceness is not typically a concern when you are looking for an attorney to litigate a case, but in an adoption, when the attorney is going to have direct contact with the birth parents, you need your legal representative to be a likeable person!”
Ask AF: Differences in Openness
Answers to your parenting questions.