I am thinking about adopting, but the idea of a home study makes me nervous. What is it, and do I need to be concerned?
Talking to Expectant Mothers Before a Match
We just completed our profile for potential birth mothers, and our agency told us to start expecting calls. How do we handle those first conversations?
Ask AF: The Home Study Report and Family Difficulties
I’m worried that my lack of a relationship with any family members will negatively affect our impending home study report.
Ask AF: Why Just One Adoption Attorney Won’t Do
“Can prospective adoptive parents and birth family share an attorney?” A legal adoption expert explains.
Ask AF: Building a Good Relationship with Your Pediatrician
How can I work with my child’s health care provider to make sure my child gets the best possible care?
Ask AF: Adoption Assistance Program
What is an adoption assistance program?
Ask the Doctor: Asthma
Our child’s referral says he has asthma. How will this affect him? What can we do to optimize his care?
Nourishing Beyond Growth Charts
How to assess a newly adopted child’s nutritional status and get a malnourished child’s growth on track.
“Pre-Parenthood: Surviving the Home Study”
It’s home study day and I’m not perfect yet.
10 Lists to Help You Prepare for Adoption
A list of lists to help you through the adoption process and wait.
Waiting for Working Moms
Yes, it’s about your new family. But don’t forget to focus on your work life, too.
How to Prepare for Parenthood
After years of disappointment, adopting couples have a hard time believing that parenthood is just around the corner. But now is the time to get ready.
Planning for “the Call”
Are you prepared to receive the news that you’ve been chosen? If not, here are six things we wish we had known, before we became a family of three.
Domestic Adoption Travel 101
Tips for — and from — domestic adoptive parents on preparing for the emotional journey to meet your child.
How to Lobby Your Employer for Adoption Benefits
For working people who want to adopt, the need to take time off without pay may put adoption beyond your financial means.
Prenatal Alcohol Exposure
If you’re worried the child you’re adopting has been exposed to alcohol prenatally, what should you watch out for?
Is Special Needs Adoption Right for Your Family?
Why adopt a child with medical special needs? The answers will surprise you and touch your soul.
Adoption Law: At the Hospital
An adoption attorney explains the legal steps surrounding your child’s birth when you adopt domestically.
“Slipping into Parenthood”
I bought that stuffed animal — and that book, and that baby hat — in a moment of weakness. But as the wait stretched on, I realized those slip-ups are what kept me going.
What’s in a Name? For an Adopted Child, A Lot!
When a child joins a family with his own history, his own culture—his own name—parents may want to look beyond the pages of a baby names book.