May 27, 2022 | Feature Families, Teen Adoption
Reading child summaries can be daunting: they outline every difficult thing that has happened to a foster child, and sometimes it can feel as though the child’s challenges and needs outweigh the strengths and positives. While the summary does include the child’s strengths, likes and dislikes, what they hope for in a family, and so on, reading those words isn’t the same as experiencing the child in person. After all, humans are too complex to be summed up by words on a page.
May 12, 2022 | Adoption Resources
You’ve completed your home study, aced that training, and been matched with a child! You can’t wait to shower your new family member with love, gifts, and attention. And since that child has been waiting for a family, they will readily embrace all your affection and voila! Instant family, right? Of course not. Although families are often eager to speed through transition periods, kids may have mixed emotions that they don’t know how to process. Embracing change can take time, which is why a transition plan is key.
Apr 25, 2022 | Feature Families, Indiana Adoption Program
Remember being 20-something and thinking that you had control of how your life would turn out? So did Sarah! She thought about adoption, but assumed that she’d be married first. Which is why being a mom was nowhere on her radar when she met 8-year-old Liam. Little did Sarah know, that within the next year, life as she knew it would be changed forever!
Mar 31, 2022 | Adoption Resources, Teen Adoption
Ask anyone who’s raised children through the teenage years, and they’ll tell you, parenting a teen is not for the faint of heart! Maybe you have a pre-adoptive placement who has just entered adolescence and you’re finding it challenging to connect with them. Or maybe you’ve just been matched with a teenager who is about to move into your home and you’re panicking about how to relate to them. You are not alone! We’ve put together some tips on how to make the teen years a little more enjoyable (or at least a little less daunting) for everyone involved.
Mar 4, 2022 | Feature Families, Teen Adoption
As a single man in his 50′s, Andrew never saw himself as a father. “I thought the whole idea was pretty much preposterous, you know. My age. Single. What business do I have doing this?” said Andrew. But when Andrew saw Alex’s news segment, he saw so much of himself in Alex that he knew he wanted to help. Seven months after meeting Alex and just three days before Alex’s 18th birthday, their adoption day arrived. Andrew surprised Alex with cake, and Alex was thrilled to make it official. “After 13 years, it’s good,” said Alex. “After 13 years, I’m done. Out of the system!”
