I am the white, single mother of an eight-year-old Asian girl, whom I adopted when she was six days old. As you can imagine, I have given a lot of thought to “the daddy question.”
“Living the Dream”
As my daughter grows up, a typical, American kid, we are free to imagine only happy endings for the family she left behind.
Off to Preschool!
As kids meet new friends—and their families—they face new questions about their past.
Positive Parenting for Behavior Problems
When parents expect the worst from their children, they often get it.
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.”
“I Forgot to Be Scared”
A 13-year-old shares his adoption story.
Raising Black Children to Become Black Adults
An adult adoptee discusses ‘the Talk’—what white parents who adopt Black children must tell them about racism, interacting with the police, and staying safe.
“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.
[Book Review] The Red Blanket
On the crowded shelf of children’s books about adoption from China, don’t overlook The Red Blanket, a book by Eliza Thomas, with irresistible illustrations by Joe Cepeda.
[BOOK EXCERPT] The Hundred-Year Flood
This poetic novel features a transracial adoptee protagonist as he explores his identity and seeks answers about his past in an unfamiliar city. Accompanying the excerpt is a Q&A with the author, Matthew Salesses.
Listen to the Musical Beat of Love
Musicians—from folk singers to rappers—are tuning in to adoption to create deeply personal reflections and hummable melodies. These songs are what you need when words aren’t enough.
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.
Ask AF: Explaining Adoption to Other Kids
How can our close friends explain our domestic adoption of a five-year-old to their young children, ages three to six?
Questions About Being “Given Up”
Our seven-year-old daughter knows her adoption story, but, lately, she’s been asking a lot of questions about why she was ‘given up.’
Ask AF: An Unknown Birth Father
Our daughter’s birth mother says she has no idea who the birth father is. We don’t know his first name or even the color of his hair.
Ask AF: Explaining Kinship Adoption
My younger daughter adopted her sister’s child. My granddaughter’s now eight, and knows that she was adopted, but she doesn’t know that her “Auntie” is her birth mother.
Ask AF: “Was I Bad?”
Our eight-year-old has been telling his classmates that his birth mother “gave him up” because he was “bad.”
Ask AF: Kids’ Books About Open Adoption
Can you recommend picture books about open adoption?
[Book Review] Born From the Heart
Reactions to Born from the Heart have been mixed.
Ask the Transracial Parenting Expert: Teens and Dating
Our 14-year-old daughter is starting high school this fall. What might we expect in terms of dating?