Search Results for: blog pre adoptive or straight adoption of a b

Foster & Adoptive Parents Support Groups – Part 3

The Foster and Adoptive Parents support group that my husband and I belong to is the Foster and Adoptive Parents of Collin County. The group meets the second Tuesday of the month at 6:00 PM for dinner and fellowship and then training starts at 6:30. We get two continuing education training hours at each meeting. The meetings are meant to be a family time with an easy start time and dinner. Many of the parents come prepared with their children in their jammies so they can leave the meeting at 8:30 and go straight to bed when they get home. … Continue reading →

Book Review: Talking with Young Children about Adoption

We often hear or read advice to talk with our children about adoption from a young age, to speak honestly about their birthparents and about their adoption story, to acknowledge their sadness, to reinforce that we are their permanent family. And we are told to do all this in an age-appropriate manner. What we don’t hear as often are examples of just how to do this, especially with young children. Actual dialogues reported by adoptive parents of all kinds make Talking with Young Children about Adoption one of the most useful books I’ve read. Author Mary Watkins is a psychologist … Continue reading →

Birth Family and Entitlement in State Adoptions

I just wanted to touch on some thoughts I had relating to birth family, entitlement and communication. These are mostly things I wanted to get off my chest, but I hope someone who needs to hear them will have a better understanding of one adoptive mother’s perspective anyway. Allowing Contact with Birth Family Most parents I know would agree there is often a sense of loyalty within family—even within birth family. Whether or not this is true in any specific case, it’s because of this many adoptive parents are leery to allow much contact—if any, fearing some information, out of … Continue reading →

Why is Hair an Adoption Issue?

Did you know that hair is relevant to adoption? It isn’t one if you adopt a Caucasian, Asian or Hispanic child. However, when you make the decision to adopt an African, Haitian or African American child, suddenly this issue springs to life. I was surprised at first to find out that hair is a big issue in adoption. Several African American friends have pulled me aside either to offer their help or to remind me that it is important to learn how to do Laney’s hair. I also read that hair is the main reason that some African Americans are … Continue reading →

The Kids through State Adoptions

Contrary to the stories, concerns and fears you might have read about online, most of the kids adopted through the state that I personally know about are genuinely well adjusted and happy. Many potential adoptive parents become scared off after reading an adoption forum site or watching television. Before becoming resistant to state adoption, there are a few things I’d like you to know: 1. Adoption forum sites typically have posts by parents seeking support and information rather than raving about their wonderful and beautiful children. In other words, people with happy and normal lives don’t always sit and talk … Continue reading →

State Adoptions: Training and Application.

The Foster to Adopt or Straight Adoption information packet families receive after contacting the state children’s services office should include information about orientation and training classes in the county a potential adoptive family lives. Sometimes this packet will include the Adoption Application which will serve as the foundation for your home study. Most states require a certain number of hours in training before the foster or adoption application will be accepted. Generally, interested families will need to attend an information meeting and a set number of hours of training before the application can be submitted. The majority of your initial … Continue reading →

The State Adoption Home Study: Getting Started.

Kathy and Rachel have done a wonderful job explaining the Home Study process for Private Domestic Infant adoption and International adoption. I thought I would write a Blog about the Home Study process for adopting a baby or child from the United States Foster care systems. In most states the cost of a Foster to Adopt or Straight Pre Adoptive Home Study is FREE. The fact is our income taxes currently pay to support more then 500,000 children in the foster care system with a third of these children waiting for adoptive families. Every working American currently supports these children … Continue reading →

Pre-Adoptive or Straight Adoption of a Baby or Child From Your State Foster Care System

When a family has decided they would like to add children by adopting a baby or child from the state foster care system there are a few things to consider. Most state offices will encourage a family to consider becoming a foster care resource and provide a child with a safe stable home while the state determines if the biological family might be able to reunify with the child. As I have written before Foster to Adopt is the highest risk placement an adoptive family might be asked to accept however, Foster to Adopt is not the only choice a … Continue reading →

Foster Parents

When a child is in the foster care system the foster parent’s role should be pretty straight forward. You open your hearts and homes to children that have been removed from their biological families care. You offer these children a safe place to live in a caring family environment. You care for these children as if they were your own, with the knowledge that this is a temporary place for them to be. Most foster parent’s go into position for all the right reasons, to give an innocent child unconditional love and a safe place to call home. However, there … Continue reading →

Lines of Ethnic and Multi-Ethnic Dolls

Earlier I wrote about the website Dolls Like Me, featuring dolls, room décor, skin care products, puzzles and many other gifts for children of varying and mixed ethnicities. My first blog focused on the non-doll parts of the website. Here I will focus on some of the lines of other dolls I found there. I’ll focus on product lines that can be found on multiple sites and locations. I should note first that American Girls dolls, in addition to dolls of the historical characters featured in the American Girl books, have a line of “just like me” dolls with about … Continue reading →