Creating a Family: Talk about Adoption, Foster & Kinship Care

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! How can families navigate open adoption from foster care while maintaining the safety and boundaries their child needs?  In this Weekend Wisdom episode, we answer a listener’s question about staying connected with birth parents after adopting a young child from foster care. We discuss how openness can help children maintain connections to their history, identity, cul...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Keeping kids safe online takes more than setting screen-time limits or turning on parental controls. In this episode, digital safety expert Chris McKenna, founder of Protect Young Eyes and author of Five Habits of the Tech Ready Family , joins us to talk about raising kids who can navigate technology with greater safety, confidence, and judgment.  We explore how chil...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! What do you do when you discover that important foster placement information was withheld before you accepted a child into your home—or even before adoption was finalized?  In this Weekend Wisdom episode, we respond to an adoptive parent who learned that behaviors they had specifically said they could not manage had been documented in previous foster homes. We explor...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! The transition from foster care to adoption can bring relief and security, but it can also stir anxiety, grief, uncertainty, and behaviors families may not expect. In this episode, adoptive dad Adrian Potter shares what his family learned while adopting three siblings who had spent years in foster care. We discuss building trust through predictability and routine, he...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Question: My niece has been living with her paternal grandparents for two years. She is now four and they have decided that it is getting too hard for them. We’ve agreed to take her in. She knows us, but we haven’t spent much time with her. What’s the best way to move her to our home that will cause the least psychological damage to her. She is very attached to her g...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! With so many trauma-informed parenting approaches available, how do foster, adoptive, and kinship parents know which strategies will actually fit their child and family? In this episode, childhood trauma consultant Beth Tyson helps parents cut through the overwhelm and understand what to look for in a trauma-responsive parenting model. We explore why safety, trust, a...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! What should you do when a birth mother doesn’t want contact in open adoption, but other birth family members still want a relationship with your child? In this Weekend Wisdom episode, we answer one adoptive parent’s question about how to support a child who wants to see his birth mother while continuing a meaningful relationship with his birth grandmother. We discuss...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! How can parents support transracial adoption identity and belonging as children grow and begin defining who they are for themselves? In this panel conversation, three young adults with lived experience in adoption and foster care share how family, race, culture, community, trauma, and relationships shaped their developing identities and sense of belonging. They discu...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! When should a parent consider residential treatment for an adopted teen who has been struggling for years? One listener shared that after trying therapy, different supports, and everything they knew to help their child heal, simply hearing the words “residential treatment” felt like a parental failure.  In this Weekend Wisdom episode, we explore how to move beyond th...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! How can parents protect kids from sexual exploitation without teaching them to fear the world around them? For adoptive, foster, and kinship families, this question can feel especially important when raising children who have experienced trauma, abuse, neglect, disrupted attachment, or other challenges that may affect trust, boundaries, and their need for connection....

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Are you considering whether your family is ready to foster or adopt a sibling group? Keeping siblings together can preserve important family relationships, shared history, and connection, but parenting multiple children who have experienced trauma also requires careful preparation.  In this Weekend Wisdom episode, we explore the questions prospective foster and adopt...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! If you want to adopt a relative from another country, the process involves much more than simply proving your family connection. International relative adoption—sometimes called international kinship adoption—must meet U.S. immigration requirements as well as the adoption laws of the child’s country.  In this episode, we talk with Debbie Price, BSW, Executive Directo...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Question: I recently received an autism diagnosis in my mid-30s. I have relatively low support needs and am working with my therapist to identify the best ways to manage my energy. I think I could still be a good foster parent, but will it be an issue for an agency? Resources: Adult Autism Diagnosis Tool Kit – from Autism Speaks Autistic Self Advocacy Network So You...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! What does healthy openness in adoption really look like—and how can adoptive parents maintain meaningful birth family connections over time? In this episode, we talk with adoptive mom Annie Iverson about practical strategies for open adoption, including staying consistent when life gets busy, setting healthy boundaries, keeping your child’s needs at the center, and a...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Parenting kids exposed to trauma is hard. Sometimes, it is very hard, but these families can thrive. In an interview with Creating a Family, Dr. Ross Greene, a Harvard Psychology professor, stressed that it was crucial for parents of children exposed to trauma to realize that kids want to do well, and if they are struggling, it is likely because they are lacking a sp...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Children in foster care can experience far more than a change in placement. They may lose caregivers, siblings, schools, routines, communities, caseworkers, therapists, and other trusted relationships—sometimes again and again. What does that repeated instability mean for a child’s behavior, sense of safety, and ability to trust? In this episode, we talk with Rita So...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Bedtime can be especially challenging for children who have experienced trauma, loss, or disrupted attachment—and even harder when parents disagree about how to respond. In this episode of Weekend Wisdom from Creating a Family , we share practical ways to approach bedtime as a team, divide the parenting load more fairly, support your child’s need for connection and r...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! How can play help children heal, regulate big emotions, and strengthen attachment? We talk with Georgie Wisen-Vincent about ways that adoptive, foster, and kinship caregivers can use playfulness to build connection, support emotional growth, and help children impacted by trauma thrive. She is a nationally recognized play therapy expert, co-author of the new book , Th...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Question: I've been looking into a lot of resources and communities for foster parents, and it seems like many of them, especially in my area, approach fostering from a Christian perspective. I was raised Christian but am no longer comfortable in Christian spaces. How do I find community?  Resources: Laura the Foster Parent Partner   Annie E. Casey Foundation Ad...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! What are trauma-responsive practices, and how can they impact your child’s behavior, emotional well-being, and success in school? In this episode, we speak with Dr. Brandy-Lea McCombs, founder of STL234 Outreaches and a frequent speaker on reviving resilience in children, drawing from her professional research and her personal journey as an adoptive parent. Learn pra...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Question: Our adopted son is almost 4 months old and perfectly healthy. He eats well, sleeps well, and seems to be hitting his milestones just fine. We know that he was exposed to cocaine during pregnancy, but he was born only three weeks early, which is still full-term. He had a healthy birth weight, he was not suffering from withdrawal in the hospital, and he has c...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Are you parenting teens, or will you be in a few years? Don’t miss this conversation with psychologist Dr. Lisa Damour, author of the book, “ The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents. “ In this episode, we discuss: Our society has become afraid of being unhappy. What are the reasons for this? Studies seem to suggest...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Question:   I feel terrible even saying this, but I am counting down the days until school starts. My kids have trauma histories, ADHD, and prenatal exposure, and summer has been rough. The lack of routine seems to make everything harder—sleep, behavior, arguing, screen time, all of it. We started summer with big plans, but now everyone is cranky, including me. How d...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! When we think about attachment in adoption and foster care, we usually focus on the child. But parents bring their own attachment histories and life experiences into the relationship as well. Dr. Chaitra Wirta-Leiker explores how a parent's past can shape their parenting, influence reactions to challenging behaviors, and impact family connection and healing. Dr....

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Question: What advice do you have for fostering/adopting children with autism, particularly those with limited communication skills? How can we best support them in expressing big feelings and feeling safe to do so? What can we do to help them feel they have some control and feel heard when they can't always communicate what they want and have a harder time unde...