As my daughter grows, she slowly and sweetly puts together the facts of her birth and adoption.
“Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hatches a Talk About Adoption”
A beloved children’s book sparked a discussion with my three-year-old daughter about adoption and her birth mother.
Ask AF: When Preteens Face Prejudice
My 12-year-old, adopted from China, has recently been saying she doesn’t want to go to school. Last night I finally got her talking. She said, “There are kids who disrupt the class and are racist. They tell Asian jokes.” Her school is diverse, but there are few Asian students. How can I help her?
“When Will My Daughter Truly Know What Adoption Means?”
“It’s a hard truth, a harsh reality to take in, that love and pain can be so connected, so entwined. When will she truly know what adoption means? When will she finally learn the whole truth of what this word means?”
Adoptees Speak Out About Adoption, Birth Parents, Race, and More
Adolescent adoptees offer first-person wisdom to fellow adoptees.
Other Brothers (and Sisters!)
Six families share their amazing stories about the power of birth sibling connections.
“Talking About Adoption…at the Grocery Store”
Young children rarely make appointments to talk about adoption, as I’ve found while playing with dolls, caught in gridlock, at the museum…
“Growing Up Feeling ‘Chosen'”
Children’s understandings of and personal fantasies about their adoption stories may differ from what you tell them. My version saw my parents wandering the aisles of “Baby Market.”
“Babies and Birth Moms and Bellies, Oh My!”
When our two children began to ask questions — lots of questions — my partner and I found answers in homemade adoption storybooks.
“I Have a Birth Mom, Too” – How Children Can Explain Open Adoption to Friends
Answers to your parenting questions.
“The Therapeutic Value of Playing Our Adoption Game”
My daughter was two when I first met her at the orphanage in Russia. I knew nothing about the first years of her life, and she has no conscious memories of that time—but an elaborate fantasy life that she cultivated gave me a glimpse into how she may have experienced her early years.
Favorite Reads of 2013
Many new books with adoption storylines or themes were published in 2013. Here are your favorites, for parents and children, with our picks added to the list.
The Heart of the Matter
How do parents know when a child’s behavior is related to adoption, and when it’s not?
Imagining Another Life
As adolescents become capable of abstract thinking, they begin to wonder about the family and the country left behind — and the road not taken.
“We Are All Storytellers”
The desire to give our children a history is something we all share. Here’s how I turned the story of bringing my son home into an adoption memoir.
Mommy, What’s Donor Insemination?
How to answer this and other questions about how families are formed.
Did I Grow in Your Tummy?
Three-year-olds are fascinated by pregnancy and families. Here’s how to have a “tummy talk” with your adopted child.
When Your Child Stops Talking About Adoption
Has your grade-schooler suddenly gone silent on adoption? Here’s how to keep the conversation going.
The Adoption Expert? Your Child
Be alert for clues about how much information your preschooler can absorb.
The Resilient Child
Don’t allow your child’s feelings about adoption to go underground.