From my own search for my roots through adopting older children from foster care, life has taught me to treasure my children’s biological connections while knowing that we don’t have to look alike to belong together.
“Finding My Place in the Family”
Though society doesn’t know what to do with birth mothers, I knew I had a place with my son’s parents. At his second birthday party, I learned that I had a place with their family, too.
Ask AF: Disagreeing About Discipline with the Birth Family
A parent in an open adoption asks what do do (and how to explain to her son) when his birth family uses different discipline approaches for his birth sibling. Adoption expert Regina M. Kupecky, LSW, offers advice.
Parenting with an Open Heart
Whether you see your child’s birth parents frequently or have never had contact, you can still imbue your adoption and your relationship with your child with openness.
“For the Love of My Child”
When Elizabeth was young, closed adoption was comfortable. But my outlook changed the day my teenage daughter said, “I want to find them.”
“A Birthday Gift for Grace”
It wasn’t until my daughter’s first birthday that it hit me: I was grieving her birth mom’s loss. With that realization, I was able to celebrate as she would have wanted.
Readers Share: Do You Have Mementos From Birth Family?
If so, when and how did you decide to share it with your child? If not, how have you handled discussions about the birth family?
“The Wrong Kind of Asian”
I have confused and disappointed many people in my lifetime because I don’t look or behave the way they think an Asian ought to look or behave.
Ask AF: When Kids Don’t Ask for Birth Family Contact
A mother who adopted older children asks what to say to her children’s birth grandparent when her children don’t ask for contact.
New Brief: Chinese Birth Parent Search Manual to Be Released
Two adult adoptees are working on the first edition of a Chinese Birth Parent Search Manual, to be released at the end of 2016.
Keeping Our Children Connected
“We visit and communicate directly with their foster family. These efforts help our sons build and sustain important relationships. They have already experienced too much loss and grief in their young lives.”
[Book Review] And Then I Found You
With her sister’s permission, the novelist wrote a fictionalized account of her experiences leading up to the adoption plan.
News Brief: LGBT Parents Very Open to Openness
A new study by The Donaldson Adoption Institute found that LGBT families are highly motivated to maintain openness and birth family contact.
Parent-to-Parent: Photographs of the Birth Family
Parents share whether they have photos of their child’s birth family displayed in their homes—where, why or why not, and how they talk about them.
“To Seek, But Not Find”
A Korean adult adoptee shares what motivated her to search for her birth mother—and the feelings she grappled with when she was unable to find her.
“Meeting My Cousin for the First Time”
Somehow, I turned out to be both an adoptive mom and a member of a birth family.
Letters to Birth Mothers, from Wondering Hearts
Distance doesn’t eliminate a desire to communicate with the birth mothers that children imagine, as these letters demonstrate.
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?
[Book Review] Megan’s Birthday Tree
When Megan was born, her birth mother, Kendra, planted a tree in her backyard. Every year on Megan’s birthday, Kendra decorates the tree and sends photos of it to Megan, in honor of their special bond.
Ask AF: Books for Understanding the Birth Mothers’ Perspective
Do you know of any books, like I Wish for You a Beautiful Life: Letters from the Korean Birth Mothers of Ae Ran Won to Their Children, written for kids adopted from China?