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

Are you hoping to adopt from foster care. Don't miss this discussion of adoption subsidies with Josh Kroll, Project Coordinator for the Adoption Subsidy Resource Center at Families Rising (formerly known as the North American Council on Adoptable Children).In this episode, we cover:What are adoption subsidies?What other names are used for “adoption subsidies”? Adoption Agreements, Adoption Assistance, AAP, monthly stipend. Is there a difference between these?Who is eligible for foster care adoption subsidies?Are private adoptions eligible for adoption subsidies? What if the private adoption is of a child with special needs?Supplemental Security Income (SSI).Is there an income limit for receiving an adoption subsidy?How is the dollar amount of the subsidy determined, and by whom?Can kinship providers receive foster care adoption subsidies?What other things can be included in an adoption subsidy agreement other than a monetary monthly stipend?Does the money have to be spent directly and solely on the foste

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.What factors do you need to consider when budgeting for the cost to adopt a baby?Additional Resources:What type of adoption would be the best fit for you?Cost of working with an agency vs. working with an attorney.Adoption Tax CreditThis 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 podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family buildingPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamilySupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review. 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 y

Do you suspect or know that your child was prenatally exposed to alcohol or drugs? Join us to learn the best ways to advocate for that child, including how to get diagnosed. Our guest is Jenn Wisdahl, the Chief Operating Officer of FASD United and proud parent to 3 young adults with FASD. Jenn leads the FASD United federal legislative and policy agenda.In this episode, we cover:Why is it important to get a diagnosis of one of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) or prenatal drug exposure for your child? In the US, FASD is not a diagnosis but rather an umbrella term that encompasses a range of life-long diagnosable medical and mental health conditions that can occur when there is prenatal alcohol exposure, even prior to recognition of pregnancy.  Neurobehavioral Disorder Associated with Prenatal Alcohol Exposure (ND-PAE)Alcohol-Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder (ARND)Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)Partial Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (PFAS)Alcohol-Related Birth Defects (ARBD) Increase in alcohol use during the

Carole LieberWilkins, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who specializes in reproductive medicine, adoption, and family-building options, answers this question with advice for couples. Additional Resources:Adoption Comparison ChartsParenting after InfertilityThis 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 podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family buildingPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamilySupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

What do transracial adoptees think about being adopted by parents of a different race? Join us for a panel of transracial adoptees talking about all things adoption.In this episode, we cover:Transracial adoption includes white parents of black, biracial, Asian, and Latinx children, as well as adoptive parents of color adopting white children. Tell us your adoption story.How did your parents treat adoption? How did and does that make you feel about being adopted?When did you realize that you were a different race from your parents?How did your parents treat race, specifically your race, when you were young?What is wrong with taking a color-blind approach to transracial adoption? Was it a struggle for you to identify as an adult of your race?What did your parent do to aid your racial identity formation? Transracially adopted children need tools to maneuver through life as a member of their racial group. When they are young, they are protected from this reality, but this changes as they enter adolescence. What t

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Q: I just recently found out my 14-year-old has stolen makeup more than once from different stores. I caught her this past weekend, and she said she did it once, but I went through her bedroom and found makeup stashed in a pillow, and I know I didn’t buy it. She gets straight A's in school, and I thought she was a trustworthy person. I just don’t know what to do. Additional Resources:Podcast: Parenting Tips for Lying, Stealing & Other Annoying BehaviorsArticle: Lying & Stealing: How to Parent Challenging BehaviorsPrenatal Substance Exposure ResourcesThis 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 podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family buildingPlease leave us

Do you want to be part of the solution to the inequity that exists in our country? If so, one of the best things you can do is raise your child to be anti-racist. Join our conversation with Tiffany Jewell, the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, This Book is Anti-Racist and The Anti-Racist Kid.In this episode, we cover:At what age do kids notice race? And does this age differ in the US depending on the child's skin color?Why not teach our kids to be colorblind?How do the books we read, the movies we watch, the friends we make, the doctors we visit, and the conversations we have at home all shape our children’s views of race?What’s the difference between not being racist and being anti-racist?Is there a difference between how a White parent and a Black parent should approach raising an anti-racist child?Practical Tips for Parents Resources:The Anti-Racist Kid by Tiffany Jewell4 Tips to Raising an Anti-Racist Kid by Creating a FamilyResources for finding great children’s books: Diverse Book Finder

Q: I’m 67 years old. My niece has gotten involved bad with drugs. Her 5 and 3 year old were taken away from her and now the child welfare agency wants to know if I will take them. My niece has been doing drugs a long time and I honestly don’t know if she’s ever going to be able to get them back. I feel like I don’t have a choice.Resources:Kinship ResourcesTrauma-Informed ParentingSuggested Books for Kinship CareThis 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 podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family buildingPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamilySupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

Is your child scared of school shootings, tornadoes, climate change, and on and on? Do you want to learn how to help them not get stuck in these fears? Join us as we talk with Dr. Melissa Goldberg Mintz is a clinical psychologist based in Houston, Texas.  She is the author of the book, "Has Your Child Been Traumatized: How to Know and What to Do to Promote Healing and Recovery."In this episode, we cover:The world feels scary.CovidSchool shootingsPolice shootingsWeather eventWildfiresOur kids are struggling.Pediatric mental health hospitalizations have increased and intensified. More than eight in 10 public schools have seen stunted behavioral and social-emotional development in their students since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and 57 percent of teen girls and 29 percent of teen boys reported feeling “persistently sad or hopeless” over the past year.Many of the children being raised by the parents in our audience have experienced trauma before, but it feels like more kids are being shaken by c

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Periodically, we survey our online community, and we asked foster parents about what surprised them about fostering?Resources:Working as a Part of the Foster Care TeamWelcoming a New Foster ChildSelf-Care for Foster ParentsSupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review. 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 podcasts Weekly articles/blog posts Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.How old is too young for a phone? Is gaming harmful to our kids? How much technology is too much. We talk with Dr. Jay Berk, a licensed psychologist and an expert in working with children and families. He is the author of two books: “A Parent’s Quick Guide to Electronic Addiction” and “Codeswitching: Social Skills in the Screen-Age”.In this episode, we cover:Parents from time immemorial have worried about the impact of the “new technology” and this goes back to our great great great grandparents worrying about the influence of novels to parents of the 50’s worry about too much time on the phone, to parents of the 80s worrying about too much TV, and on to the present where we worry about screen time, texting, and gaming. We parents are digital “immigrants” while our kids are digital natives. How does this dynamic present challenges?How to keep up with what our kids are doing?What are the general best practices for elementary aged kids using digi

Q: We have 3 children by birth and want to adopt a child that really needs a home. Given our kids' ages, this will probably mean that we will disrupt the birth order of at least some of our kids. The agency we have talked with is definitely against this idea. Is this something that is harmful to kids?Resources:Disrupting Birth Order ResourcesSuggest Books for Kids on Preparing Children for the Adoption of a SiblingThis 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 podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family buildingPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamilySupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

Are you thinking about stopping infertility treatment and trying to adopt or foster? Join us to talk with Carole LieberWilkins,a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who has specialized in reproductive medicine, adoption, and family-building options since 1986, and is the co-author of the book, Let’s Talk About Egg Donation. Carole serves on the Advisory Board of the US Donor Conceived Council, and is an active member of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine Mental Health Professional Group. She is also a mom through adoption and egg donation.In this episode, we cover:Adoptive parenting is the same as, and very different from, genetic parenting. Ways in which raising adopted children is different. Ways in which it is the same.Fostering has some significant differences from genetic parenting, including adopting from foster care.What are the losses of infertility?How to know when you are ready to stop fertility treatments and move to adoption or fostering? What are the signs of readiness?The myth of n

Q: My wife and I plan to adopt a child under the age of 9 from foster care. We have just started taking the classes. My wife has a 9-year-old from a previous relationship, and we want to do everything we can to prepare him in advance for this adoption. Any help is appreciated.Additional Resources:Blending Children by Birth and AdoptionSuggested Books for Preparing Your Child for the Adoption of a SiblingFree Course: The Impact of Fostering & Adopting on Kids Already in the FamilyThis 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 podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family buildingPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamilySupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

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 using anatomically correct words and talking about sex, so if this offends you or triggers you, you may want to skip this podcast.In this episode, we cover:Typical Sexual Development / PlayWhat is typical sexual development in children as they age?What type of sexual play is considered “normal?”How should parents manage a child’s natural sexual development?Problematic Sexual BehaviorsWhat are Problem Sexual Behaviors in Children?What causes kids and youth to act in socially unacceptable or destructive sexual ways? What factors influence the development of these behaviors?Child vulnerabilitiesBehavior problemsEmotional difficultiesDevelopmental de

Q: I’ve applied to adopt a waiting child from foster care. We are open to all races, kids up to age 13, and sibling groups up to 3 kids. We applied and then heard nothing. We also applied through AdoptUSKids and also heard nothing. I know the social workers are busy, but this is getting to be ridiculous. How do I get their attention without making them angry at me?Additional Resources:Adopting from Foster CareWorking as Part of the Foster Care TeamThis 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 podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family buildingPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamilySupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Are you considering adopting a baby? Join us today to learn more. Our guests will be Karlee Wagner, a Program Supervisor for Infant Adoption and Birth Parent/Pregnancy Services at Children’s Home and LSS in Minnesota (CH/LSS); Erin Quick, the Founder and CEO of PairTree - the organization dedicated to helping families navigate private adoption in the healthiest way possible and mom of two through adoption; and Courtney Lott, the owner and founder of Faithful Adoption Consultants, a consulting service that seeks to walk adoptive families through the adoption process from beginning to end. She is a mom to eight children: six through adoption and two biologically. In this episode, we cover:How many domestic private infant adoptions happen in the US each year? Average cost of adopting a baby in the US. Average length of time prospective parents wait for an adoption match. Creating a Family article: Adoption in the US: How Many? How Much? How Long?W

There are several ways to adopt a baby in the US.Adopt a newborn or young infant through private adoptions.Adopt a baby in the US through the foster care system.Additional resources on infant adoption:How to Adopt in 2023Adoption in the US: How Many? How Much? How Long?Cost of AdoptionDomestic AdoptionFoster Care AdoptionThis 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 podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family buildingPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamilySupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Are you considering adopting or fostering? Or taking in a relative's child? Do you suspect or know that the birth mom used drugs or alcohol during pregnancy? Join us today to learn how these substances might impact the child and how you parent. Our guest is Dr. Lisa Prock, a Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrician, Director of the Developmental Medicine Center at Children’s Hospital, Boston, and Clinical Director of the Translational Neuroscience Center at Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston. She is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.In this episode, we cover:Foster, adoptive, and kinship parents and caregivers often need to consider whether they are the right family to parent a child with prenatal alcohol and drug exposure.The US government estimates that about 10% of children born in the US have been prenatally exposed to alcohol, drugs, or both. How common is prenatal substance exposu

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.This is a perennial question that is often asked: Help, I have an older child moving in. How do I make them comfortable and make the transition as easy as possible for us all? We offer 3 tips to help you welcome a new young person into your home.6 Parenting Tips for Older Child AdoptionSuggested Books on Older Child Adoption for Adoptive ParentsWelcoming a New Foster ChildSupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review. 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 podcasts Weekly articles/blog posts Resource pages on all aspects of family building