Openness in adoption should begin long before the expectant mother and adoptive family navigate ongoing contact. An agency and an attorney discuss best practices for working with prospective birth parents.
Ask AF: Different Levels of Contact
Our six-year-old son has contact with his birth family. our four-year-old daughter was abandoned at the hospital at birth. After a recent meeting with our son’s birth family, our daughter asked when she can meet her birth family. Should we stop taking her with us on these visits? Is it just confusing her?
“From Heartbreak to Hope”
When our first adoption match fell through, we were devastated.
Finding an Expectant Mother Match
How you go about searching for your child’s birth mother will depend on what you feel comfortable with.
Ask AF: Acting Out After Birth Mother Visits
Answers to your parenting questions.
Ask AF: When Contact Seems Risky
Answers to your parenting questions.
Ask AF: What’s Typical in Adoption Agency Contact?
Answers to your parenting questions.
“Waiting for a Girl Like You”
A few years after marrying the man of my dreams, I was surprised to once again feel like an insecure single woman, willing the phone to ring.
Tips for Creating Your Profile from Birth Mothers
When creating your family profile, be authentic.
Adopting from the United States
Basic facts about domestic adoption.
Ask AF: Writing to an Unknown Birth Mother
Answers to your parenting questions.
Summer Reading 2015
Everyone touched by adoption should check out these powerful memoirs, by a birth mother and an adoptee.
Keeping an Adoption Open Despite Challenges
Five moms candidly reveal how they’re honoring their commitment to openness when their child’s birth parent struggles with substance abuse, mental illness, or is experiencing crisis.
“The Meetings of the Moms”
The day my mother met my birth mother.
“We Always Called You Jason”
Fantasizing about my birth parents, I never dreamed my strongest link to the past would be through a flinty grandmother.
“Our Relationship with Our Child’s Birth Mother”
Getting to know our daughter’s birth mother was a tremendous blessing.
Interviewing Potential Birth Mothers
What to ask — and what not to ask — a potential birth mother in your first encounter.
“Open Minds, Open Hearts”
Five years ago, my husband Pat and I knew nothing about open adoption. Today, we are staunch advocates of it and the very proud parents of two beautiful children who came home to us through open adoption. The journey to our children and to lovingly accept open adoption, however, was not an easy one. We learned that having an open mind was the key to having an open heart.
Ask AF: Information in a Closed Adoption
Answers to your parenting questions.
“How I Handled Calls from Prospective Birth Mothers”
Our advertising was placed, our adoption profile was ready to go, and it was only a matter of time before our 800-line started ringing with calls from expectant mothers. Yikes! Mercifully, I was prepared, thanks to the expertise of my adoption attorney, adoption consultant, and other adoptive parents. Here’s what I learned: