In the middle-school years, parents must step back and help their child learn to stand up for herself, in school and in the larger world.
Relating to Relatives
There’s much parents can do to help their teens feel they belong within the larger family network.
Myths About Teens
In a quandary over what’s normal — and what’s not — about your teen? Here’s what you should know.
If Your Teen Is Gay
Bruce had been a cheerful, outgoing child who had many friends. But when he turned 15, his parents noticed a change in him. He seemed more withdrawn and less gregarious. One day, when Bruce and his mother, Karen, were driving home from school, he seemed particularly down. When Karen asked him what was wrong, he said, “I’m not who you think I am.”
Preteen Summer Reads with Adoption Themes
Encourage discussion — and a lifelong love for reading — with these adoption-themed books.
Birth Parents on Their Minds
Your teen probably spends a lot of time thinking (or fantasizing) about her birth mother. Here’s how to get some of those thoughts out in the open.
Foster Youth Becomes Miss Alabama’s Outstanding Teen
A foster youth living in a group home defied the odds to become Miss Alabama’s Outstanding Teen.
What Will Their Friends Think?
As kids grow up, they look to their friends for acceptance — and desperately want to fit in.
Is Culture Camp for Us?
What will my child learn and talk about at camp? What would our family take away from a week attending together?
Wanted: Teens
Adopt an adolescent? People do, all the time.
“Who am I?” The Complex Quest of Adolescent Adoptees
Every teen is involved in the complicated process of forming an identity. For adoptees, the process has a few extra layers.
When Teens Explore Religion as Part of Their Identity
Teens have a lot of questions — including some about family religion.
Ask AF: Creating a Lifebook for a Teen
One adoptive mother wonders if she should make a lifebook, even though she doesn’t have many photos of his life before he came to her. AF readers respond.
Revealing Painful Adoption Details
Children need to know their full stories before the teen years. Why, and how, to explain troubling information.
Talking with Teens About Sex and Dating
Having “the talk” with your teen is necessary — and it can turn into an emotional conversation about birth parents.
Teens in Blended Families
When their family also includes biological children, adoptees can have complex feelings about siblings and their own sense of belonging.
Adoptees Speak Out About Adoption, Birth Parents, Race, and More
Adolescent adoptees offer first-person wisdom to fellow adoptees.
All Grown Up
A parent’s role changes when a teen leaves the nest. Here’s how to start relating to your child as a young adult, and reinforce your bond.
“Too Soon for a Family Vacation”: Older Child Adjustment
What we should have known before we took our newly adopted 13-year-old on a surprise Disney World vacation.
Birth Parent Relationship Changes in the Teen Years
“We have a semi-open relationship with our 14-year-old son’s birth mother. Recently, he asked if we could invite her for a weekend. I trust his birth mom, but I’m worried.”