Author Archives: Julia K. Porter, PhD

The Challenges and Joys of Transracial Adoption

  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?

  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)

When your Family Doesn’t Support Your Adoption Plan

  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)

Choosing Adoptive Parents: Who Makes the Decision?

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

  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?

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.

Adoption & Trauma

    Discussions of adoption often center on hope, joy, and building families. Though these things are a part of adoption, not all aspects of adoption are celebratory or positive experiences. For birth parents, adoptees, and even adoptive parents, there can be a level of trauma. For many adoptees in particular, this is something that… (Read More)

Why Do Birth Parents Choose Adoption?

  I have done a lot of research about adoption and have had the privilege of speaking to many birth mothers. It is so important to me to learn from others’ lived experiences. Through these conversations, I’ve learned that no birth mother chooses to make an adoption plan for the same reason. In fact, there… (Read More)

Adoption Awareness Month

  National Adoption Awareness month is important to the adoption community and in even more recent years has been celebrated more with community events, special adoption ceremonies at courthouses in November and above all, a heightened awareness about older children in the foster care system who are hoping to find permanent homes. The History of… (Read More)