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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Join us for a conversation about why men in foster and kinship care matter - to the family unit, to the system, and most importantly, to the kids. Our guest is Tony Craddock, a Prevention Social Worker in Wake County, NC, with more than 25 years of experience supporting families. For the past decade, he has engaged kinship families and fathers through his co‑facilita...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Question: I love my child so much, but lately I feel emotionally worn down and shut down in my parenting. Someone mentioned they recently learned about blocked care, and now I’m wondering if that's what’s happening. What is blocked care, and what can a parent do about it? Resources: Understanding and Overcoming Blocked Care What Is Blocked Care? How Do I Overcom...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Are you raising a child with known or suspected prenatal opioid exposure? Understanding the impacts and how to parent them will help you set your child up to thrive! We are joined by Lenette Serlo, an adoptive mom of four children impacted by prenatal substance exposure and the founder of Generation O , a nonprofit focused on creating understanding and support for ch...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Question:  Should I tell my nephew that by the time he turns 18, he has to be in school and passing his classes, or have a job, to continue living with us? He will turn 18 at the end of this school year and will inherit a small amount of money that could get him started. He is currently in school, and he doesn’t have a job or any interest in getting one. Anytime some...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Helping young adults in foster or kinship care transition toward adulthood can feel overwhelming for foster parents and relative caregivers. Join us today for a conversation with Vernell Gore of Youth Villages and Nick Sgarlata of Bridge to Brighter , for practical ways to prepare and equip your foster or kin youth for adulthood. In this episode, we discuss: What mak...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! A Lifebook is the story of how your child came to be yours and the story of his life before he came to you. Adoption is only one aspect of your child, and at some point, his life merges into your life. However, he had a life before he came to your family, and his Lifebook tells this part of his story. Resources: Adoption Lifebooks (Suggested Books) Welcoming an Older...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Raising kids impacted by adoption, foster care, or kinship care can do a number on your marriage or life partnership. Join us for a conversation with Jeremy & Jara Walden, authors of The Heart Work of Foster Care: A Hopeful and Honest Guide to Foster Parenting , about strategies to re-prioritize and strengthen your most significant relationship. In this episode,...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Question:  We have two children adopted through the foster care system as infants - an almost 10-year-old (AudHD) and a 4.5-year-old (neurotypical). They both come into our room every night in the middle of the night, and it really disturbs my sleep and my husband's sleep. It seems like we've tried everything to get them to stop. Recently, we told them we w...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Would you like to learn how to build a culture of joy, connection, and healing in your home? Join us for a conversation with Bryan Post, an adoptee and therapist specializing in child behavior, adoption trauma, and love-based parenting. He's the founder of Fear to Love LLC, Bondify.ai, and Leaf Wraparound, and the author of several books, including From Fear to...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Question: My husband and I finalized our adoption in December 2025, and we’re still waiting for our son’s birth certificate in the mail. Then we’ll need to take it to file for an SSN and wait for that to arrive. How can we file taxes, including our newborn baby, without a Social Security Number for him? (We didn’t know we could file for a temporary number with the IR...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Do you worry about what is normal in your child’s sexual development? Join us to talk with Roy Van Tassell, a Licensed Professional Counselor in Oklahoma and Director of Trauma and Evidence-based Interventions for Centene Health. He co-chairs the National Child Traumatic Stress Networks’ subcommittee on children with problem sexual behaviors. Warning: We will be usin...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Question: As a single mom, how do I find good role models for my kids? Resources: Finding Male Role Models for Kids of Single Moms Creating a Support Network as a Single Adoptive Foster or Kinship Parent 1 Yes, 4 S's: How a Post-Adoption Support Group Changed My Life Support the show Please leave us a rating or review.  This podcast is produced by www. Creatinga...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Are you raising a child with known prenatal exposure to alcohol? Does your child have a diagnosis for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder? Listen to this conversation with Barb Clark, Founder and CEO of FASD Mosaic. She offers coaching, training, and consulting on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), trauma, neurodivergence, and challenging behaviors, and is the auth...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! This is a second question from a listener named Tabitha who adopted a baby boy last year. Tho the adoption looked like it might be at least semi-open, it's effectively closed for now because the baby's birth mom is no longer communicating even with the agency.  Question: All our training spoke to the benefits of open adoption. We also know (our baby) has tw...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Is the idea of attachment parenting new to you and your family? Or could you use a refresher on what secure attachment is and why it matters? Listen to this conversation with Samantha Farris, LMSW, from the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development. She's helping us understand the basics of building secure attachment between parent and child to strengthen our...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Question: When you are preparing your taxes and working out how to maximize this credit and get that $5,000 back, you might find that you want a tax professional to guide you through the filing process. How do you find a qualified, reputable tax specialist who can handle your claim? Resources: Finding a Tax Specialist to File Your Adoption Tax Credit Claim The 2025 A...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Should you consider adopting or fostering a child who is older than a child already in your family? Are there things you can do to make it easier for all the children? We talk to Elizabeth Bohlken, Director of Education and Support at Children's Home Society and Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota, to talk about the preparation, joys, and challenges of disrupt...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Question:  How do we handle an adoption that has been closed from the first mom’s end? We don’t even have a photo of her despite our request. Our #1 Secret Tip for Navigating Open Adoption 5 Tips for Navigating Sticky Situations with Birth Parents Who Holds the Power in Adoption: Birth Parents or Adoptive Parents? Where is Mommy? Helping Kids Cope with Absent Parents...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Did you know that the current reigning Miss Kentucky is a foster alum? We spoke with Ariana Rodriguez about her life leading up to the pageant circuit, what motivates her, and how her foundation, The Lucky Ones , is changing foster care experiences for foster kids in Kentucky. In this episode, we talk about: You made history as the first Miss Kentucky to have been in...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Question: I recently listened to a podcast featuring an adoptee, a birth mother, and an adoptive parent, which was great. The adoptee talked about when it hit her that she was adopted and feeling like her birth mother threw her away. My sons are adopted through the foster care system. One is technically still a foster child. My oldest was removed from his birth mothe...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Are you familiar with pathological demand avoidance? Do you need helpful strategies to raise a child with the challenging behaviors that characterize PDA? Listen in to this conversation with Dr. Cynthia Martin, a clinical psychologist, the former Senior Director of the Autism Center at the Child Mind Institute, and founder of CM Psychology in Manhattan, NY. In this e...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Question:  How to talk to your child about their conception story when embryo donation/embryo adoption is involved in forming your family? Resources: Embryo Adoption (Resource Page) Suggested Books for Children Conceived Through Embryo Donation Disclosing Donor Conception to Our Kids (podcast) Support the show Please leave us a rating or review.  This podcast is prod...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Talking about the difficult parts of our child's story, like abuse or prenatal substance exposure, can be overwhelming. Kelly Weidner, the co-founder and Executive Director of Haven Adoptions & Family Services in Ambler, PA. She has 28 years of experience in foster care, residential care, and adoption, which will help us navigate these challenging conversati...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Having the right documentation, signed, dated, and completed, is crucial to maximizing the claim and avoiding delays or audits. But before we jump into the actual documents, let's start with the big changes to this year's adoption tax credit, because these are important details for families to know this year. Resources: Adoption Tax Credit Resource Page Fin...

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Let us know about your adoption journey Did you finalize an adoption in 2025 or within the last several years? Are you eligible to claim the Adoption Tax Credit? Listen to this conversation about the 2025 Adoption Tax Credit. Our guests are Becky Wilmoth, an Enrolled Agent and Adoption Tax Credit Specialist with Bill’s Tax Service , and Josh Kroll, the Adoption Subsi...