Our expert explains how contact with birth grandparents can be beneficial for children, and the guidelines for setting up a relationship that will last.
Ask AF: Explaining that We’re the Lucky Ones!
Answers to your parenting questions.
Ask the Open Adoption Expert: Reconnecting with Birth Mother
We haven’t been in touch with our son’s birth mother since he was a toddler. How should we reconnect with her?
Ask AF: Renaming an Older Baby
Answers to your parenting questions.
Ask AF: Explaining a Birth Sibling’s Adoption
Answering your parenting questions.
Birth Parent Relationship Changes in the Teen Years
“We have a semi-open relationship with our 14-year-old son’s birth mother. Recently, he asked if we could invite her for a weekend. I trust his birth mom, but I’m worried.”
Feeling Guilt Over the Birth Mom’s Grief
“Many parents feel guilty because their joy is the direct result of a difficult decision by the birth mother — someone you may have grown to care about. So when a new adoptive mother sees the birth mother in intense pain, she asks herself, ‘Was adoption really the right thing to do?'”
Helping Family Understand Open Adoption
Your family — especially older relatives — may not get why you are choosing an open adoption. Adoption expert Kathleen Silber gives advice on what to say.
“I Have a Birth Mom, Too” – How Children Can Explain Open Adoption to Friends
Answers to your parenting questions.
Ask AF: Bringing Birth Fathers Into the Adoption Conversation
Answers to your parenting questions.
Breaking Bad News: “I Have Something to Tell You”
How do you break bad news about job loss, illness, or divorce to the birth parents in an open adoption relationship?
Open Adoption and the Family Tree Assignment
Your child was just assigned the family tree in school. What now?
Ask AF: Considering Open Adoption
Answers to your parenting questions.
Ask AF: Contacting Birth Siblings
“Our 10-year-old daughter recently asked if she has any brothers or sisters. She does, but we don’t know how to start explaining.” Kathleen Silber offers advice.
Ask AF: Birth Family Request for a Closed Adoption
Our child’s birth family does not want any contact with our family. How can we explain this to our son?
Ask AF: After a Birth Family Reunion
Open adoption expert Kathleen Silber answers a question from a mother who feels like her son prefers his birth mother since their reunion.
Ask AF: Telling Family About a Birth Child
Kathleen Silber answers a question from a woman who placed a birth child for adoption years ago, and wonders how and when to tell her family.
Ask AF: Uncomfortable Level of Contact with Birth Family
Answers to your parenting questions.
Contact with Birth Parents
We just brought our newborn home and are wondering how to communicate with his birth mother. How do we start?
- 1
- 2