For eight years, my wife and I watched our chances of having a baby evaporate. Then our eleven-year-old niece came to live with us, bringing with her a bittersweet deliverance.
Listen to the Children
A callous foster care system deprived her of parents and siblings and gave precious little in return.
Into the Safety of Our Hearts from Hard Places
Years of working with at-risk adopted children have taught us powerful truths about how to forge a strong parent-child connection. When children have experienced maltreatment or neglect prior to adoption, the idea of family may be confusing to them.
“Someone to Count On”
Four years ago, I legally became a mother. The adoption day was no less special because I had already been parenting Danielle for 15 months. On that day, I truly claimed my daughter. No one could take her away.
“Sleeping Together as a Family”
At night, each of this mother’s three children wanted to be with mom.
“And Now We Are Three”
Mix one American couple, one preteen Russian boy, and one summer program…and what do you get? Family.
“Googling Her Birth Parents”
Would it really be possible to fill out my daughter’s hazy memories by typing names into a search engine?
“Will I Ever Be Able to Love This Child?”
When the first few weeks of parenthood were rocky, I found myself worrying: Did we adopt a child I’ll never be able to love?
“Four Unforgettable Introductions”
One adoptive dad describes four introductions he’ll never forget— those first moments when he met each of his four children but wasn’t yet their father.
“A Past Without Pictures”
My daughter was eight years old in the referral photo we received during the international adoption process. That’s the oldest photo she will ever have of herself.
25 Ways to Nurture Hurt Children
How do you nurture a child who repels nurturing? Start with these practical ideas.
Explaining a Birth Parent’s Drug or Alcohol Abuse
“How can we explain birth family’s drinking or drug use?” Older child adoption expert Gregory Keck, Ph.D. answers a reader’s question.
“Hand-Me-Downs: Growing Up in Foster Care”
People kept taking us, a threesome of foster kids, into their homes. But we never stuck.
“What the Books Didn’t Tell Me”
When Christopher joined our family at age three, I had to set aside my tried and true parenting methods in favor of the sort of nurturing he’d never known.
“How I Finally Got Into Club Mom”
The cruelest parts of infertility? Having to attend baby showers, coo over ultrasound pictures, and being told it’s “God’s will” that you’re still childless.
“Real-World Lessons”: Adopting a Teenager from Foster Care
We adopted a teenager from foster care as veteran parents and thought we were prepared for what lay ahead—but our new son still taught us a thing or two.
Ask AF: Inappropriate Affection
Our seven-year-old daughter was adopted about nine months ago and is adjusting well. We wonder how to respond when she shows inappropriate affection to family members or friends.
When the New Brother or Sister Is Not a Baby
When a sibling arrives at an older age or with emotional challenges, everyone will benefit from realistic expectations — and patience.
“How Jesse Learned to Play”
There was no time for fun in the orphanage. But at home in America, four-year-old Jesse discovered water balloons, trampolines — and his inner Hercules.
“Parenting a Child Who Was Terrified of Love”
When you adopt an older child who pushes you away in anger, you learn a different way to parent, to give love without immediately receiving it in return.