Adoption Through The Years It’s no wonder that most people have been touched by adoption in some way. Maybe you’re an adoptee, adoptive parent or birth parent. Or, you know someone who is. At the very least, you probably have a friend, co-worker or acquaintance who is apart of the adoption triad. Adoption isn’t a new concept in our society.…
How I Was Adopted by Joanna Cole and illustrations by Maxie Chambliss. This book starts with information for adoptive parents on talking with their child about adoption. This section of the book is informative and may give adoptive parents the confidence needed to answer adoption related questions their child might have. Not all adoptive parents know exactly where to start as their children…
Open Adoption Early in the adoption process, both birth and adoptive parents need to ask themselves: What level of openness do I want for my adoption? This can be a difficult answer to come to since it involves factors that are still unknown. You know little about the relationship you’re agreeing to. You don’t yet know the names, faces, challenges…
An adoptive parent’s guide to the hospital experience As adoptive parents, there are many milestones in the adoption process. You spend a notable amount of energy and coping skills as you navigate each step and overcome the challenges that may have already come your way. To think, this is before actual parenting begins! Finally, you’re matched and your birth mother’s…
Earlier this week, I came across an article about a birth mom that had formed a support group to encourage other mothers that had also placed their child for adoption. Rachel is a wonderful example of taking a difficult experience and using it to give back to others. Gift of Life has established a similar system with the program we…
It is time. Time for Gift of Life’s annual Secret Santa gift exchange. This is one of my favorite times of the year, because the staff becomes creative and competitive. Creative, competitive and sneaky. Now, I’m sure you’re familiar with how the Secret Santa game works. We all draw names from a hat to find out who we have. Then…
October is a pretty full month. In addition to bringing Halloween, October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month, as well as Infant and Pregnancy Loss Awareness Month. Somehow, October feels like the perfect month to discuss these kind of personal hurts. The weather is gentler. Our coffees are sweeter. We’re wrapped in soft scarves and the days are even shorter.…
Gift of Life Adoptions is always looking for new ways to educate ourselves on all aspects of adoption. So we were very excited when our director, Meghan, and myself got the opportunity to attend a presentation regarding infant care and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome. Our intention was to gather as much information as we could so we could come back and…
This year, four of our staff were able to travel to beautiful Orlando to be a part of the annual Florida Adoption Council Conference. Gift of Life looks forward to this event every year. It’s a chance to network and reconnect with other adoption professionals. It’s also a great place to learn new policies, laws, and procedures. This year was…
As we talk about the hospital experience and making a hospital plans, I am reminded of one of my favorite birth mom stories. I had worked with a birth mom named Andrea for several months. Andrea was kind birth mom that struggled with an addiction problem. Although the delivery was sudden, the adoptive couple was able to be there. The…