Perspectives on Challenged Family Building

This is another in a series of posts on related challenging topics. You may want to print this post or others in the series (Introduction, Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six.) Study them, returning to them over time. Review the resources that are embedded within the articles. Keep them [...]

The traumatized adoptee’s preoccupation with food starts in infancy. The child in residence in an orphanage sucks on a propped bottle, or holds a bottle of her own within a few months of being born. The same is true of American adoptees who—pre-adoption—resided in neglectful birth homes. Food was the companion, rather than a nurturing [...]

Nothing facilitates attachment between family members like laughing, joking, teasing and playing with one another. Yet, in families in which there is an adopted child with a history of trauma, giggles and chuckles don’t always come easily. This is disappointing to parents who want to provide their children a fun childhood full of rich experiences, and [...]