When you lose a parent or grandparent, you mourn the past. When you lose a child, as I lost my 24-year-old daughter, you grieve for the future that will not be. By adopting after this unimaginable tragedy, I wasn’t aiming to bury my grief or to start over, but to start a new beginning.
“Finding My Inner Mom”
For years, I felt ambivalence about becoming a parent, and worry that I wouldn’t be a “perfect” mother. In an open letter to my daughter, I look back on that moment of calm and utter clarity when we met.
Parents Share: “When I Knew I Was Going to Adopt”
Parents share the moment they knew in their hearts that their path to parenthood would involve adoption, whether they always knew or it came after years of trying to conceive.
Ask AF: What to Do the First Time a Foster Child Comes to Stay with Us?
“We are preparing for our first overnight visit with sisters we hope to adopt from foster care, and are nervous. What are we supposed to do for 24 hours with two children who are essentially strangers?”
Parents Share: The “Match Meeting” with an Expectant Mother
“Be yourself” and more real-life advice for the “match meeting” with an expectant mother.
Ask AF: Advice for Our “Ice Breaker” Meeting with a 10-Year-Old Boy?
“We are adopting from foster care and have an ‘ice breaker’ meeting with a 10-year-old boy scheduled for tomorrow. I’m super nervous. Can anyone share advice about forging a connection?”
Parents Share: Our Last-Minute “Stork Drop” Adoption
We asked, did you get “the call” that you’d been selected by a birth mother after the baby was already born? Parents respond with their experiences and been-there advice.
“What Being a Foster Family Has Taught My Children”
Amazingly, the number one question we’re asked about being a foster family is: “Are you afraid of what they’ll teach your children?” So, what have my kids learned? To start—to be open, generous, non-judgmental, thankful for their warm home….
Never Too Old for Family
Today in the United States, more than 123,000 children in foster care are waiting for a permanent home through adoption. Nearly 45 percent of these children are ages eight or older—and desperately need the stability, guidance, and love that only a family can provide. Learn more of the myths and realities surrounding older child adoption.
Ask AF: Should We Try to Adopt Our Children’s Biological Sibling?
“Our children have a younger sibling in a different foster home. Should we fight to get custody of this child, whom we’re told has a strong bond with her foster parents and foster siblings, or leave things be?”
Parents Share: Deciding What Age Child to Adopt
From newborns to teens to sibling groups, adoptive parents share the thought process behind their age preferences when adopting.
Brotherly (and Sisterly) Love in Foster Care
When the courts place children in foster care, siblings have only each other to turn to and count on.
The Story Behind the Cover Photo: “The Words I’ll Never Forget”
“Looking back on this picture, I see a child who was confused, but yearning for what we all want and need: security, a family, and love. The picture is about hope.”
“Our Journey to China to Adopt Our Daughter”
We left our house this morning a family of three, but the next time we walk through our front door, it will be as a family of four.
Are You Considering Transracial Adoption?
If your family is thinking about adopting a child of a different race, spend some time answering these six questions to help determine if it’s right for you.
“Beyond All Expectations”
She went abroad intending to be an orphanage volunteer—and came back a mother.
“Visiting Our Daughter’s Russian Orphanage”
Three years after her adoption, we returned to our daughter’s Russian orphanage to visit her caregivers and friends there.
“A Family Renewed”
Can adoption be an act of faith after the greatest loss imaginable?
News Brief: Transition to New Accrediting Entity for U.S. Adoption Service Providers Leads to Increase in Fees
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released a new schedule of non-refundable accreditation fees to be shouldered by agencies and, ultimately, prospective families.
Adoption Cost and Timing in 2016-2017
Each year, Adoptive Families polls newly formed families across the country to get actual information on the cost and length of time it took them to complete their adoptions. See the results of the most recent 2016-2017 Adoption Cost & Timing Survey.