We used to have a good relationship with our son’s birth mother, but haven’t heard from her since he was two. He’s now nine. I recently searched for her online, and learned that she’s in jail.
Ask AF: A Truthful Explanation
Answers to your parenting questions.
Ask AF: When Only Negative Details Are Known
Answers to your parenting questions.
Ask AF: Explaining Poverty
Answers to your parenting questions.
Ask AF: How Do We Tell Our Teen Tough Information?
Our daughter’s birth mother committed suicide several years ago. We’ve never told our daughter, who’s now 13 and in a rebellious phase. I just read something that said you should tell your children whatever you know about their adoptions before the teen years, but we can’t go back in time to do so. Should we tell her now, or wait until she’s older?
Keeping an Adoption Open Despite Challenges
Five moms candidly reveal how they’re honoring their commitment to openness when their child’s birth parent struggles with substance abuse, mental illness, or is experiencing crisis.
Adoptees and the Seven Core Issues of Adoption
Adopted persons tend to experience seven core issues related to their adoption. Discussions of adoption over the years have often overlooked the pain and struggles of adoptees, but identifying these core issues and helping children integrate them as they grow validates their experiences, decreasing feelings of being different and isolated.
Ask AF: Sharing Negative Information
My nine-year-old daughter was adopted as an infant. She’s been asking me about her birth parents, so I searched. I was devastated by the information I found, and have no idea when and how to reveal the details. Her birth mother died from complications due to alcoholism; her birth father has done time in prison and is now AWOL.
Ask AF: Honoring a Birth Mom’s Memory
Spurred, in part, by my daughter’s questions, I recently initiated a search for my six-year-old’s birth mother. I learned that her birth mother died a year ago. Do I need to tell my daughter now? If so, how?
[Book Review] Telling The Truth To Your Adopted Or Foster Child: Making Sense Of The Past
Betsy Keefer Smalley and Jayne E. Schooler’s book will help parents who are struggling to find the right words to tell an adoption story in a positive and realistic way.
Intercountry Adoption — Talking Truthfully About Trafficking
Talking to your child about the possibility of trafficking is not easy. Here’s how to open the dialogue.
“Prison Baby”
In this personal essay, one adoptee describes all the questions she wanted to ask her birth mother when she visited her birth country: a jail.
Book Excerpt: The Mercy Rule
Read an excerpt from Perri Klass’ new novel about a pediatrician who grew up in foster care — and now works with similar at-risk patients.
Ask AF: Tough Birth Father Info
Answers to your parenting questions.
Talking About A Difficult Adoption Story
What children don’t know can’t hurt them, right? Think again.
Revealing Painful Adoption Details
Children need to know their full stories before the teen years. Why, and how, to explain troubling information.
Kids May Worry About Their Birth Parents After a Natural Disaster
Here’s how to help your child regain her sense of security when current events trigger hidden fears.
Discussing a Difficult Past After Foster Adoption
My child’s background was tough. Now that he’s with our family, do we really need to discuss the past?
Ask AF: Difficult Details
Answers to your parenting questions.
Making Peace with Missing Information
We may not have the answers to all of our children’s questions about adoption and their birth families. But we must accept that fact, so we can help our children come to terms with it, too.