Creating a Family: Talk about Adoption & Foster Care

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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 exposure for foster and adoptive children, as well as those kids living with grandparents and other relatives?
• Are there signs or symptoms with a child that may have been exposed to alcohol and drugs in utero, absent confirmation from the mother?
• What is known about the amount or timing of alcohol or drug use and the impact on the baby or child?
• Short-term and long-term impacts of the following substances:
  • Alcohol-does it matter the type of alcohol?
  • Methamphetamines
  • Adderall, Concerta, Ritalin or other ADHD medication
  • Opiates/opioids-prescription
  • Opioids-illegal
  • Heroin
  • Fentanyl
  • Methadone, Suboxone, Subutex, Buprenorphine
  • Marijuana
  • Ecstasy, inhalants
  • Tobacco-smoking cigarettes or vaping
• How common is dual exposure/polysubstance exposure—alcohol and drugs?
• Do children who have been prenatally exposed to alcohol or drugs have a greater risk of abusing drugs in adolescence or adulthood?
• How do you get a child diagnosed with prenatal substance exposure?
• What should parents consider when trying to decide if they are the right family for a child with prenatal exposure?
• Creating a Family’s Prenatal Substance Exposure Trainings for Parents, Daycare/Preschool Teachers, and Afterschool Staff.

Support the show

Please 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.

Have you ever wondered if your struggle to conceive could be caused by your genes? Today we're going to answer that question and more about genetics and fertility by talking with two certified genetic counselors with CooperGenomics: Sharyn Lincoln and Sheila Johal.
In this episode, we cover:
Infertility is a disease affecting nearly 7% of all couples. It is a highly heterogeneous pathology with a complex etiology that includes both environmental and genetic factors. In this episode we will be focusing on the genetics.
What percentage of infertility can be attributed to our genes?
Genetics and Female Infertility

47,XXX (trisomy X; Triple X)
⁃ What is trisomy X?
⁃ How common is 47,XXX?
⁃ What are the symptoms of Triple X syndrome?
⁃ How common is infertility in women with Triple X?
⁃ Will the children conceived also have this chromosomal abnormality?
Turner syndrome (monosomy X)
⁃ What is Turner Syndrome?
⁃ How common is it?
⁃ What are the symptoms?
⁃ How common is mosaicism with this chromosomal defect?
⁃ How common is infertility in women with monosomy X?
⁃ Will the children conceived also have this chromosomal abnormality?
Single Gene Disorders
⁃ Fragile X (Primary Ovarian Failure)
⁃ Premutation
⁃ Galactosemia
⁃ Others
Polygenic, complex female infertility (environment & genetics)
⁃ Endometriosis
⁃ Is there a genetic link?
⁃ Fibroids
⁃ Is there a genetic link?
⁃ Hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer (HLRCC)
⁃ Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
⁃ Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH)
⁃ Primary Ovarian Insufficiency (POI)
⁃ Is there a genetic link?
⁃ XXX syndrome
⁃ Fragile X syndrome
Genetics and Male Infertility

Klinefelter syndrome
⁃ What is Klinefelter syndrome, 47,XXY?
⁃ How common is Klinefelter syndrome?
⁃ What are the symptoms of Klinefelter syndrome other than infertility?
⁃ Is it possible for a man with Klinefelter syndrome to reproduce?
⁃ Will the children also have chromosomal abnormalities?
47,XYY syndrome
⁃ How common is XYY syndrome?
⁃ What are the symptoms of XYY syndrome other than infertility?
⁃ Will the children also have chromosomal abnormalities?
Structural chromosomal abnormalities (SCAs) include deletions, duplications,
translocations (balanced, imbalanced, and Robertsonian), and inversions.
⁃ Y chromosome micro deletions
Single Gene Disorders (Cystic Fibrosis)
Why has it been so hard to pinpoint the exact genes associated with male and female
fertility?

Support the show

Please 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.

Do you sometimes feel that self-care is an impossible goal when you are parenting kids who have experienced trauma. There isn't enough time in the day to do it all, much less take care of yourself. Or is there? Join us to talk about how to find time to take care of yourself. We will talk with Angelica Jones, MSW, Program Director of Intercountry Services and the Intensive Service Foster Care Recruiter and Trainer at Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services.
In this episode, we cover:

· “Selfcare” or “take care of yourself” are overused but still vitally important terms for foster, adoptive, and kinship parents.

· Why do all parents but especially parents of kids who’ve experienced trauma need to practice self-care?

· What is secondary trauma?

· Why are kids who’ve experience neglect, abuse and other childhood traumas harder to parent?

· The busyness of foster and adoptive parenting.

· What are some of the barriers to taking care of ourselves as adoptive, foster or kinship parents?

· The importance of respite care and the barriers to parents using it.

· Practical ideas for providing self-care.

· Think small when thinking self-care.

· Ask for help and accept it when offered. If someone offers to help, say “yes” and suggest something specific. Ex. A meal on Wednesday night. Babysitting or taking a child to the movies once a month.

· Parent Support groups

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

Support the show

Please 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.

Support the show

Please 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.

Do you have a child receiving special education services or one that you think may need these services? In this podcast, we talk about navigating this process. Our guests will be Lisa Eisenberg and Gaile Osborne. Lisa Eisenberg is a social worker, education advocate, and consultant. She is a member of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, an organization whose goal is to secure high-quality educational services for all and to promote excellence in advocacy. Gaile Osborne is the Executive Director of Foster Family Alliance, the foster, kinship, and adoptive parent association in North Carolina. She has her masters in special education with certifications in five areas, including emotional disabilities. Gaile and her husband are parents of children adopted from foster care and have fostered over 28 children. Foster Family Alliance provides educational advocacy support for NC foster, adoptive, and kinship families.
In this episode, we cover:

• What language is preferred: special education, exceptional children education, or something else?
• What laws govern special education?
• What are the most common acronyms that parents will see, and what do they mean?
  • IEPs
  • 504s
  • LRE
  • SDI
  • OHI
• How does trauma impact a child’s ability to learn?
• How can you tell the difference between the impact of trauma from a learning disability or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)?
• What are the signs that a child needs to have an educational assessment?
• What is involved with an educational assessment?
• What are the first steps that a parent or caregiver should take to get an educational assessment?
• What is the difference between an IEP and a 504 plan? Which one provides the most protection and accommodations for the child?
• What accommodations should parents and caregivers be aware of that they can ask to be included in either the IEP or 504 plan?
• What can foster/kin parents do if they believe the child in their care needs to be assessed? What are their legal rights?
• Are they allowed to be in the IEP or 504 meeting?
• Can they directly influence the IEP or 504?
• How can foster or kinship parent be of the most help when working with a child with learning disabilities or other disabilities?
• Tips for Parents and Caregivers when a child is struggling academically in school.
  • 38 School Accommodations for Children Who Have Suffered Trauma, by Debbie Ausburn
  • Special Education Acronyms and Glossary

Resources:

• Calming the What If’s: Parenting Kids Who Don’t Fit the Mold

Support the show

Please 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