Perspectives on Challenged Family Building

Many families that adopt will instantly love their adopted child as much as they love their birth children. When I was a worker placing children, we often stated that there was a “spark” on the part of the parent. They would meet a child or see a picture of a child and just know that was [...]

Typical children are often the least involved throughout the adoption process. Few agencies provide them information about the brother or sister to come, or the changes the family may experience when adopting a child with mental health diagnoses (i.e., PTSD, Bi-Polar Disorder, AD/HD, RAD, etc.) Parents tend to focus on issues such as sharing a [...]

Ellen is the 14-year-old birth child of Sharon and Todd. She is one of three birth children and three children by adoption. Ellen attended therapy with her mother and one of her brothers by adoption, Kenny. During therapy, Kenny described how he continued to miss his birthmother. He also discussed how the loss of his [...]