Creating A Family: Talk About Infertility, Adoption & Foster Care

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.We talk with a panel of former foster youth about their stories and what helped them survive their trauma and succeed in life.In this episode, we cover:What were the two most important things in helping you heal and ultimately thrive after your years in foster care and early life trauma?Was their one or two people in your life who helped you overcome? What did they do to help?Why do you think you became a survivor when others in similar positions did not?If you are parents, how has your trauma from your early years impacted your parenting?While you are successful and are “survivors” do you still carry some of the baggage from your childhood?What advice would you give foster, adoptive, and kinship parents to be most helpful to the children in their care?This podcast is produced  by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who supp

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.What do teachers know about adoption? What are the misperceptions? We talk with two researchers on this topic: Dr. Hal Grotevant, the Rudd Family Foundation Chair in Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Dr. Abbie Goldberg, a Professor of Psychology and current Director of Women’s & Gender Studies at Clark University.In this episode, we cover:How knowledgeable were teachers in understanding the impact of trauma?How knowledgeable were teachers in understanding the impact of attachment?How knowledgeable were teachers in understanding the impact of adoption?How knowledgeable were teacher sin understanding the impact of prenatal exposure?Was there a perception that adopted kids were “troubled”?What did they know about open adoption?How accepting were teachers to the idea of modifying assignments to reflect diverse families, including those formed by adoption?Do teachers know whether kids are adopted? Do they need to know? D

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.How can you help you child succeed at school?  We talk with Heather Forbes, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and the owner of the Beyond Consequences Institute. She specializes on the impact of trauma and is the author of Help for Billy and Classroom 180.In this episode, we cover:What are some of the specific issues that parents of foster and adopted kids need to consider when their children go back to school?Tips for helping kids transition into the new year.Is it better to address potentially sensitive issues up front before they happen, when they might not even happen, or wait to see if it comes up? For example, family tree assignments.What are some other potentially triggering school assignments for foster or adopted kids?How much of your child’s story should you share with your child’s teacher? How to balance the desire to keep your child’s history for them to decide who knows and sharing sensitive information with the teacher to help the

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.We talk with Dr. Julie Lamb about Endometriosis and Adenomyosis. Dr. Lamb is a board-certified reproductive endocrinologist practicing at Pacific Northwest Fertility in Seattle and Bellevue and serves as clinical faculty at the University of Washington.In this episode, we cover:EndometriosisWhat is endometriosis?What are the symptoms of endometriosis?What is the cause of endometriosis?Is there a genetic link to endometriosis?What factors increase your risk of developing endometriosis?Does having endometriosis make you at greater risk for cancer?How is endometriosis diagnosed?Is a definitive diagnosis necessary before treatment?How is endometriosis treated?When should laparoscopic surgery to remove the endometriosis lesions be considered for the treatment of endometriosis?When should hysterectomy be considered for treatment of endometriosis?What are endometriomas?What method is best for removing endometrial lesions: laser, electrical pulse, or o

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.How can white parents raise anti-racist children in this time of violence against people of color and protests. We talk with Dr. Ann Hazzard, a clinical child psychologist who was on the faculty at Emory University in Atlanta and co-author of Something Happened in Our Town:  A Child's Story about Racial Injustice; and Dr. Joy Harris, a Full-time Lecturer at Princeton Theological Seminary and co-author of The ABCs of Diversity: Helping Kids (and Ourselves!) Embrace Our Differences.In this episode, we cover:Embrace Race.org. Founded by black and mixed race parents to provide resources for raising black children.One Talk at a Time https://www.caminoslab.org/onetalk Providing support for Latinx American, Asian American, African American, and Black youth and their families to have conversations about race and ethnicity. They have a separate section for Black, Asian, and Latinx parents.What is the difference between not being a racist and being

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.One of the hardest parts of being a kinship caregiver is navigating the relationship with the child's birth parent. We talk with Dr. Joseph Crumbley, a social worker, family therapist and author of “An Overview of Kinship Care”.In this episode, we cover:Creating a Family listening sessions with kinship caregivers in rural counties.What are some of the complicating factors in the relationship between kinship caregivers and the child’s parents?Grandparents and other caregivers sometimes feel that the child’s parents will threaten them with taking the child away if they do something that the parent disapproves of.How to not enable the child’s parent but still have a relationship.How to set healthy boundaries for the caregiver’s and child’s best interest when you have years of experience not setting healthy boundaries?How to handle others in the family who interfere with the boundaries you’ve established?I don't know if this is a question

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.How can churches support kids in foster care and prevent children from entering foster care? Join us for our discussion with Jedd Medefind, President of the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) and Amber Knowles, the Executive Director of The Riverside Project (formerly Fostering Family).In this episode, we cover:We call it a foster care “crisis”. What does that term mean? What are the needs of foster children?What is each organization doing to help engage churches in caring for foster kids?What are ways people of faith can help improve the world of fostering if they know that they aren’t able to actually get licensed to foster?How can churches provide support for people once they are parenting kids from foster care—either through fostering or adoption?How can churches work to support birth families to help once the child has been reunified or to help stabilize them so that children don’t end up in care?How can faith communities get involved w

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Are you considering adopting a baby? On today's show we talk about the legal and medical risk factors you need to consider. We talk with Amy Wallas Fox about the legal risk factors in infant adoption. Ms. Fox is an attorney partner of Claiborne Fox Bradley Goldman, a North Carolina and Georgia law firm and a fellow in the American Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys. We talk with Dr. Lisa Prock, MD, MPH, about the medical risk factors in infant adoption. Dr. Prock is the Director of the Developmental Medicine Center and Associate Chief in the Division of Developmental Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.In this episode, we cover:How can a hopeful adoptive parent find a baby to adopt in the US?What is the difference between an adoption agency, adoption attorney, adoption facilitator, and adoption consultant?What is meant by an adoption-friendly state? Is there a state that is better tha

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.In this episode, we talk with Dr. Tia Jackson-Bey about Racial Disparities in Reproductive Medicine. Dr. Jackson-Bey is a Reproductive Endocrinologist with RMA of NY. She speaks frequently on reproductive justice and increasing access to fertility care and she is a member of the Americian Society for Reproductive Medicine Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Taskforce.In this episode, we cover:What biological reproductive health conditions that can impact their fertility are Black women more prone to.Tubal or uterine abnormalitiesPCOSFibroidsRacial Disparities in Infertility TreatmentAfrican American women are more likely than white women to experience infertility and wait longer to seek care.Women of color are less likely to access fertility treatment.Racial Disparities in Other Reproductive Health IssuesContraceptive usePap testsMammogramsMaternal mortalityPreterm birthLow birth weightUptake of human papillomavirus vaccinationWhat are some of the

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.What is the future for parent support groups and are online support groups here to stay? How can we make them better? We talk with Dr. Jay Miller, Dean and Dorothy Miller Research Professor at the College of Social Work, University of Kentucky. He is a former foster youth and is now a prolific researcher in what works to support foster, adoptive, and kinship families.In this episode, we cover:The Virtual Interaction Pilot Program at the University of KentuckyHow to create a sense of community and relationship building with online parent support groups?How many is too many participants in online groups?What platform is best? Zoom? Microsoft Teams? Google Meet?What day of week and time of day is best for participation?Are there differences between urban vs. rural support groups?How to increase engagement in meetings? Do hybrid parent support groups work?What is the future for foster, adoptive, and kinship parent support groups?Do you see a differ

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Foster youth or children who have been in the foster care system make up over 80% of children being sexually exploited. What can you do to prevent this from happening to your child? We talk with Audrey Morrissey, Co-Executive Director of My Life My Choice, a survivor-led nonprofit fighting sexual exploitation of youth.In this episode, we cover:What are some of the different forms that sexual exploitation can take?What is included in sexual trafficking?Internet exploitation.How does grooming take place.Are foster children disproportionately represented in the sexually exploited population?Are children who have experienced trauma over represented?Seeking love and connection.Sexual exploit of boys?What can parents do to protect their children from sexual exploitation?What resources are available to parents and young people?This podcast is produced  by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Representative Marjorie Margolies had a busy career as a journalist, author, Congressional Representative, professor, and founder of Women’s Campaign International all while raising 11 kids by adoption, birth, sponsorship, and marriage. She is the author of a new memoir And How Are the Children.In this episode, we cover:How did each of your children join your family?How did you “blend” children that came to you in different ways, with different backgrounds, and different ages?What were the biggest challenges?Did some of your children struggled? How much do you think the way they came to your family impacted their struggles?What did you learn along the way? This podcast is produced  by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them. Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:Weekly

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Have you conceived through donor conception or are you considering this? Join us for the fascinating dive into disclosing (or not) this information to your child. We will talk with Dr. Patricia E. Hershberger, Associate Professor at the College of Nursing and Affiliate Professor at the College of Medicine, Dept. of Obstetrics & Gynecology, at the University of Illinois in Chicago.In this episode, we cover:How common is donor conception in the US? In other countries?What percentage of parents in heterosexual couples tell their child of their donor conception?Is there a difference in the percentage of parents disclosing donor conception with children conceived by donor sperm, donor egg, or donor embryo?Is there a difference in the willingness to discuss surrogacy with children? What does the research show about how many parents that say they are going to tell actually do tell by age 5 or age 10 or age 15?Is there a difference of opinion in th

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.We talk with a panel of birth moms about their adoption experience. What is the adoption experience for birth mothers and what do they think of some of the controversies in adoption, such as pre-birth matching, adoptive parents at the hospital, adoptive mother breastfeeding, etc. In this episode, we cover:Tell us what your child’s adoption looks like.What are your ideas on:Options counseling being provided by adoption agencies—is there a conflict of interest.Pre-birth matchingSome have stated that an infant should go into temporary or foster care for a time (usually 1-2 months) between birth and placement as a revocation period. Fundraising for adoptionAdoptive parent breastfeeding.What did you look for in adoptive parents?There is a lot of talk in adoption world about subtle and not so subtle forms of coercion that could influence a mom’s decision to place. Hopeful adoptive parents attend doctor appointments.Adoptive parents being present at t

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Are you considering adopting or fostering a baby who was exposed to opioids prenatally? We talk with Dr. Robin Gurwitch, a faculty member in the Duke University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Center for Child and Family Health. Her research focuses on improving the outcomes and increasing resilience in children who have experienced trauma, including prenatal exposure.In this episode, we cover:What drugs are included in the category of opioids? Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone (OxyContin®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®), codeine, morphine, and many others. Methadone and suboxone?How does prenatal exposure to opioids affect a fetus?How can you tell if the baby is born dependent on opioids?What are the symptoms of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS)?How common is testing of the newborn or m

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Is your child "more"...more intense, more defiant, more everything and in general, just harder to parent? We talk with Dr. Chuck Geddes, the founder of Complex Trauma Resources where he developed the Complex Care and Intervention (CCI) program to support foster and adoptive children. He is the author of Children and Complex Trauma: A Roadmap for Healing and Recovery.In this episode, we cover:What makes a child harder to parent? The importance of recognizing what we parents bring to the relationship.Difference between trauma and complex trauma.Tantrums, meltdowns, or hissy fits are a common part of child development, but some kids have them more than others and they are more intense. What factors contribute to some children being more susceptible to tantrums? At what age in normal child development are tantrums most common?How does trauma change the dynamic with tantrums?Techniques for preventing tantrums.Techniques for handling tantru

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Have you experienced a miscarriage? What type of genetic tests should you consider to prevent another miscarriage? We will talk about Genetics, Genetic Testing, and Miscarriage with Kim Skellington, a laboratory genetic counselor with CooperGenomics providing pre-test and post-test counseling to patients regarding genetic testing, and Dr. Rachel Gerber, a board-certified Reproductive Endocrinologist and Infertility Specialist with RMA NY.In this episode, we cover:What causes a woman to miscarry a pregnancy? How common is miscarriage? What is considered Recurrent Pregnancy Loss (RPL)? How common is recurrent pregnancy loss? Basic introduction to DNA, genes, and chromosomes. Genetic Testing of Products of ConceptionWhat can go wrong with the genes of a fetus that would likely result in a miscarriage? What genetic tests on the products of conception are available after a miscarriage to determine the cause? At what point does a doctor consider gene

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.What are the microaggressions or stigmas in the world of adoption and how do they impact adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive parents?  We talk with Dr. Amanda Baden, a Professor and the Doctoral Program Director at Montclair State University in the graduate counseling program and a licensed psychologist in private practice in Manhattan. She is an adult adoptee from Hong Kong and an adoptive parent of a daughter from China.In this episode, we cover:What are microaggessions in general and how do they apply to adoption? These microaggressions apply to all members of the adoption kinship network (adoptees; adoptive parents, grandparents, siblings; first/birth parents/grandparents).Where do some of the unconscious attitudes and stigmas toward adoption come from? Common microaggression themes for adoptees:biology is best/normative is based upon the belief that biological ties are superior, more permanent, and more authentic than ties formed through

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.How can we raise joyful resilient kids? We talk with Dr. Mona Delahooke, a clinical child psychologist and the author of Brain-Body Parenting: How to Stop Managing Behavior and Start Raising Joyful, Resilient Kids.In this episode, we cover:“Too often we are focused on the child’s behavior instead of the child. We are concerned about solving problems rather than cultivating the relationship.”A child’s behavior is a clue for us parents to understand what is going on inside the child.No one-size fits all approach to child rearing. What’s most important isn’t the rules, but the child. We must understand how our parenting is landing on our child. Personalize our parenting.Three pathways to the mind-body platform.Body budgeting.The distinction between behaviors that seems to be defensive but are actually protective.How do you approach tantrums in a preschooler?How to co-regulate with our child and why?How to build resiliency in our children?This podc

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.The impact of prenatal exposures to alcohol and drugs is not something that kids outgrow and the transition into adolescence and adulthood can be particularly tricky. We talk about this transition with Kathy Hotelling, a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and is the co-founder of NCFASDInformed.org. She is also the mother to a 27 year old with FASD.In this episode, we cover:Tell us a bit about your story as the mother of a child with FASD.Does the impact and symptoms of prenatal exposure to alcohol change as the child ages?Are the impacts different depending on whether the child has been exposed prenatally to alcohol or other drugs, such as opiates, methamphetamines, marijuana, etc?We talk about the primary impacts of FASD and prenatal drug exposure and the secondary impacts? Give us some examples?How can parents help prevent some of the secondary impacts?How does puberty impact children with pren