How Educators Can Support Adopted Children During National Adoption Awareness Month
If you are an educator, particularly one that works with younger students, it’s important to spend some time celebrating National Adoption Awareness Month and to remember that some things should be implemented in your processes and curriculum all the time. You are a critical person in your students’ lives in so many ways, so taking the time to support all of your students is important.
Why Community Matters in the Adoption Journey
Adoption is a complicated and unique situation. There isn’t a “one size fits all” for how becoming a parent or making an adoption plan will be and because of this, anything and everything can happen. I know personally, that without a support system, my husband and I needed all the support we could get. No […]
Cultural Appropriation, Halloween, and Adoption
Every Halloween, we know your family is probably thinking about what to dress up as this year. Unfortunately, many people inadvertently use this holiday to exploit or inappropriately represent another culture. What is Cultural Appropriation? In short, cultural appropriation is representing a culture that you aren’t affiliated with. Some examples would be to dress […]
The Psychological Effects of Adoption on Birth Parents
Adoption is a complex process with feelings that can be unique situationally and some that are universal to the experience. Birth parents will feel any combination of feelings, but like any loss, they will likely go through not only the stages of grief, but also, suffer from other effects of trauma that may not […]
Questions to Ask a Potential Birth Mother
For prospective adoptive parents hoping to meet a birth mother, few situations are more anxiety-inducing than their first encounter. Here are some questions to ask — and some to avoid — along with insight as to what she’s thinking. The first meeting or phone call with an expectant mother considering adoption can be nerve-wracking, as […]
Navigating School Systems with Adopted Children
When my husband and I were adopting our daughter, school seemed far off, but even before we were placed with an infant, we had to think about what we would do when she was school aged as this was very important to birth parents. However, this is important to start to talk about when adopting […]
Placing My Child for Adoption: An Act of Love and Hope
If you are considering placing your baby or child for adoption, it is important that you start off by speaking to a social worker, adoption agency, or other adoption professional. It is important that you know your rights as a birth mother or birth father and that as a birth parent, you are making the […]
Adoption and Vaccinations in Wisconsin: What you Need to Know
When you adopt a child, it is important that you work with a pediatrician, like any other parent, to schedule your child for their appointments and vaccinations. Though vaccination schedules may vary, as a parent by adoption, your social worker and/or adoption agency may remind you to do what is in the best interest of […]
Talking to adopted children about racism
Though it is in my opinion that every child should be talked to about racism, it can be increasingly more important to talk to adopted children–particularly those who are in a transracial family–about racism, and to keep the conversation going throughout their teen and early adult years. Not only does it help children to […]
LGBTQ+ Adoption
June is traditionally Pride Month in not only the United States, but around the world. This is something that is often celebrated in the adoption community as well and provides the opportunity to discuss not only same sex adoptions, but the obstacles that can occur. As of the publication of this article, same sex […]