The Challenges and Joys of Transracial Adoption

- By Julia K. Porter, PhD

  In 2015, my husband and I adopted our daughter, making us a transracial family. While my husband and I are white, my daughter is black. Though there are challenges that we face as parents, the majority of the challenges that are experienced in transracial adoption are by the adoptees. Though there are countless joys… (Read More)

Is it Safe to Find Your Birth Mother Online?

- By Julia K. Porter, PhD

  You may be one of the many adopted individuals beginning the journey to search for your birth parents. With the advent of so much new technology, finding birth families online is easier than ever, but also, can cause some trepidation about the safety of this endeavor. In many states, you will have access to… (Read More)

What is an Adoption Consultant?

- By Julia K. Porter, PhD

  If you are in the process of adopting or considering choosing an adoption placement for your child, you’ve likely been bombarded with a lot of terminology related to the adoption community and who you will be working with. Though you may have heard about adoption consultants, you also might not be familiar with them,… (Read More)

When your Family Doesn’t Support Your Adoption Plan

- By Julia K. Porter, PhD

  When we talk about stigmas surrounding adoption, we tend to think of the past, when people didn’t share that they had adopted and all adoptions were closed. Though this seems like this was how things were handled long ago, it wasn’t in our too distant past that these things happened. Also, unfortunately, stigmas surrounding… (Read More)

LGTBQ+ Adoption & Pride Month

- By Jess Alanis

  As we get ready to celebrate Pride Month, it’s not only important to recognize those in the LGTBQ community, but to understand equality in adoption. We know that the LGTBQ+ community, now more often referred to as LGTBQIA+  (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer/questioning, and asexual) have struggled to adopt legally.    In fact,… (Read More)

Foster Care Awareness

- By Jess Alanis

  According to ChildWelfare.gov, there are “over 407,000 children and youth in foster care, and 34 percent were placed with relatives or kin.” In many cases, a family member is the first person that agencies seek when they’re looking to home a child in the foster care system. However, this is not always possible.  May… (Read More)

Choosing Adoptive Parents: Who Makes the Decision?

- By Julia K. Porter, PhD

Choosing to make an adoption plan to place your child for adoption is a hard decision. Ensuring that your child is adopted by a family that you trust to raise him or her can be just as hard. Though in some instances, birth parents may not opt to or be unable to choose who adopts… (Read More)

How to Navigate Open Adoption

- By Julia K. Porter, PhD

  As a birth parent who is already navigating creating an adoption plan, it can be difficult to know what type of openness you see occurring. This is an important decision and there are adoption professionals willing to help you think this through.    What is an open adoption? There are three levels of openness… (Read More)

What Are the Benefits of Adoption?

- By Julia K. Porter, PhD

There are many reasons that people choose to adopt, just like there are many people who choose to make an adoption plan for their child.

35 Years of Building Families: Alex and Kristi

- By Chris Varela

The Alex and Kristi Family: Meet Alex, Kristi, Ava and Luke Type of Adoption: Domestic Infant (open, x2) Year of Adoption: Ava: 2018 Luke: 2022 Adoption Counselor: Ava: Agency in CA as that’s where we lived at the time. Luke: Emily Hoxie at ACI Excerpt from Our Profile Book: Unavailable Thinking Back: “Other than parenthood… (Read More)