How Much Should I Prepare Ahead of Time for an Infant Adoption? - Weekend Wisdom

11/30/24 • 9 min

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

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Question: My husband Sean and I are here in Canada and early in the adoption process. We are looking at private infant adoption through an adoption agency. My question is around getting ready. When we successfully match it is almost a certainty it will be with a newborn and there’s a 30% chance it’s a no-notice match and we have days rather than months to get ready. How would you recommend preparing? Do you think getting a crib, clothes, etc. is overkill? I’m a planner, so I love to be prepared! Thanks!
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Using Positive Childhood Experiences to Help Our Kids Heal

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Can our kids heal from all the hard things they've experienced? Is there something we can do to help? Join us today to learn about the power of positive childhood experiences with Dr. Robert Sege, the director of the HOPE National Resource Center at Tufts Medical Center. He holds a MD degree from Harvard Medical School and a PhD degree in biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In this episode, we cover:

What are some of the benefits to kids from having positive childhood experiences?
You have identified four building blocks for positive childhood experiences. What are they and give us specific examples of what parents and caregivers can do in each block to promote these experiences?
How do these positive childhood experiences differ by age of the child?
Can positive childhood experiences mitigate the impact of adverse childhood experiences?
How can we help our kids be more resilient?
Are all stress and negative experiences in childhood bad for our kids?
Are there particular ages where kids are more receptive to the healing impact of positive childhood experiences?
Our audience includes foster, adoptive, and kinship parents. While adoptive parents have a lifetime with the kids (and kinship caregivers may also have the same), foster parents are usually a temporary landing place for a child while their parents work on getting them back. How much impact can you have if you only have the child for a few months or a year?

Resources:

HOPE National Resource Center

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Next Episode

NFL Running Back Ricky Watters: How Adoption Shaped My Life

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Join us for this interview with former NFL Running Back and Super Bowl Champion Ricky Watters. He is an adoptee, an adoptive dad, and author of a new children's book on adoption, A Gift Called Shane.
In this episode, we discuss:

How old were you when you learned you were adopted and how did you find out?
When you discovered you were adopted, you mentioned in your NFL movie that it put a big chip on your shoulder. How has that chip served you well as an adoptive dad?
How has it been a detriment?
Why did you decide to adopt?
Why did you decide to adopt internationally?
Did your experience with finding out late that you were adopted affect the way you discussed adoption with your son?
Do you see any signs of a similar “chip” in your son that you had when you found out you were adopted? How do you help him navigate it for his own success?
How did you prepare your biological son for the adoption of his brother?
How do you support your adopted son in his questions about identity, birth family, etc.?
Are you in reunion with your biological family?
How has your adoptive family handled your reunion with your birth family?
How excited were you for fellow hometown boy Shady McCoy to get into the Eagles Hall of Fame?
What was your experience with playing at Notre Dame?

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Weekly podcasts
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Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Creating a Family: Talk about Adoption, Foster & Kinship Care - How Much Should I Prepare Ahead of Time for an Infant Adoption? - Weekend Wisdom

Transcript

Please pardon any errors, this is an automated transcript.
- Welcome to Weekend Wisdom by Creating a Family. Creating a Family is a national
support and training nonprofit for foster, adoptive and kinship kids, as well as
families, obviously. This Weekend Wisdom podcast is our opportunity to answer your
questions. So please, you guys are doing a terrific job, but please submit your
questions, more questions to info family .org.
That's I -N -F -O at creating a family .org. So