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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

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 anti-racist?
• What is wrong with saying and believing any of the following: "love will conquer all", “we are all one race-the human race", and “colorblind is best”.

Tip 1. Talk about Race

• Racism thrives in silence. Why are many white parents silent on raise in general and within our families?
• When do children start recognizes racial differences?
• When should white parents start talking to their kids about race?
• How to start the conversation? 
• Fantastic resources:
  • Diverse Book Finder https://diversebookfinder.org/books/
  • The Brown Bookshelf highlights Black voices writing for young readers.
  • The Conscious Kid https://www.theconsciouskid.org/  

Tip 2: Acknowledging & Celebrating Racial Diversity

• Why is it important to acknowledge and celebrate racial diversity?
• How to acknowledge and celebrate racial diversity?

Tip 3: Recognize systemic/institutionalized racism and white privilege

• What do we mean by systemic racism?
• What do we mean by white privilege?
• How early do kids start defaulting that things associated with being white are better than being black?
• How can parents address institutionalize racism with their children who will likely benefit from it?
• How do we help teach our kids to understand power inequity so they can name it, unpack it, and dismantle it when it happens in the real world.

Tip 4: Talk about Violence Against People of Color and the Protests/Resistance

• Something Happened in Our Town:  A Child's Story about Racial Injustice 
• How much should we share with our children? At what age should we talk with them about these hard topics or is it better to shield them from such “grown up” problems?
• Talk about How People Make Change in a democracy.
• Not a one-time conversation. 
• Appropriate conversation for age and developmental level. 
• Should young children watch the news and videos. 

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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

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, but I really struggle with getting my kids opportunities to see their mom and siblings. All other siblings have been reunited, and I gather it's painful for their mom to see the two that were adopted by us (she surrendered her rights). Although we live relatively close to them, we have only managed 2-3 visits a year, mostly because of long periods of no responses to my texts or last-minute cancellations of planned visits. Sometimes our adopted kids can't even remember their siblings' names and it just breaks my heart. I'd love for them to have a closer relationship, but I have only limited control.
• How to handle the anger, shame, guilt you feel at the child’s parents?
• How to support co-parenting when the child’s parent is still not in a healthy place?
• How to support reunification?

For more information please refer to www.drcrumbley.com.

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

Please leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

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 with supporting foster families and foster kids?
• The Jockey Being Family® Back to School Bash events will take place during the weekend of August 5-7th, 2022. These gatherings are geared towards foster and adoptive families with children 5-14 years of age. This is a chance to celebrate, educate, and empower families with a fun-filled and informative event as they prepare to head back to school for the upcoming year. Jockey Being Family® Foundation will provide grants for up to $3,000 to eligible organizations to help bring a Back to School Bash to your community. Together, we can be a much-needed support network for foster and adoptive families across the country. Email [email protected] for additional information. 
• More Than Enough
• Fostering Family  and the Riverside Project
  • Video: Riverside Project 

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

Please leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

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 than others to try to find an expectant mom who may want to place her child for adoption?
• What are the different time periods that expectant parents or birth parents have to change their mind?
• Adoption is covered by state law.
• Is it possible for a birth family to get the child back after an adoption is complete?
• What are some of the legal issues with birth fathers—both identified and unidentified?
• How does the Indian Child Welfare Act impact legal risk in adoption? 
• What are some red flags that an expectant mom may not go through with the adoption plan and decide to parent?
• What are the most dangerous drugs or substances that an expectant woman can use during pregnancy as far as impact on the fetus and baby?
• What is the impact of alcohol on a fetus and baby, both short term and long term?
• What is the impact of opiates (prescription and non-prescription) on a fetus and baby, both short term and long term?
• What is the impact of methadone or suboxone on a fetus and baby, both short term and long term?
• What is the impact of heroin on baby, both short term and long term?
• What is the impact of methamphetamines on a baby, both short term and long term?
• Long term impact of prenatal exposure to cocaine or crack?
• If the birth mother stopped using drugs and stopped drinking when she found out she was pregnant, will the baby be spared the worst of the impact?
• What are the risks to the baby if the mother has Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C, HIV, syphillis?
• Is ADHD inheritable? Is there a gene for ADHD?
• Do certain mental illnesses have a genetic connection? What is the likelihood that the child will have depression, anxiety, bi-polar, schizophrenia, or other mental illnesses if the birth parents had the illness? 
• Should adoptive parents worry if the expectant mom has not had prenatal 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 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

Please leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

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 abnormalities
  • PCOS
  • Fibroids
• Racial Disparities in Infertility Treatment
  • African 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 Issues
  • Contraceptive use
  • Pap tests
  • Mammograms
  • Maternal mortality
  • Preterm birth
  • Low birth weight
  • Uptake of human papillomavirus vaccination
• What are some of the social and structural challenges that contribute to these racial and ethnic disparities?
• What can infertility nurses do to reduce racial disparities in reproductive health care?

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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

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 Kentucky
• How 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 difference in support groups for kinship parents?

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

Please leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

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 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

Please leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

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 podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Please leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

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 the professional field on whether children should be told? On whether professionals should counsel patients to tell their child?
• The impact of over-the-counter genetic testing on parents’ willingness to disclose donor conception and infertility professionals’ willingness to encourage disclosure. 
  • Genetics study in school also raises questions 
• Is telling more common in same sex couples?
• What are the motivating factors for parents who have told?
• What reasons do parents give for not telling their child?
• Is unresolved grief over their infertility (if infertility was a factor) a motivating factor for not telling?
• Research has found that there are two general approaches behind when to tell children about their conception by donor sperm, egg, or embryo: “seed planting” and “right time”.
• What is the average age that parents tell their child about their conception via donor sperm, egg, or embryo?
• What word do parents use to describe the donor to the child? Does this word differ based on whether the parent is in a heterosexual partnership, a same-sex partnership, or is single?
• How do parents talk about donor conception? If a two-parent household, which parent usually tells?
• Is there a general story-line that parents use when disclosing donor conception to the child?
• What does the research show about how donor conceived children feel about donor conception? Does it impact the quality of family functioning in a positive or negative way?
• Use of children’s books.
• What role could infertility professionals, especially nurses, play in disclosure decisions for infertility patients?
• Should nurses, or other professionals, encourage disclosure?
  • How can they support following through on disclosure of donor conception?

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

Please leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

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 matching
  • Some 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 adoption
  • Adoptive 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 the birth and at the hospital?
• How involved do you think adoptive parents should be at the hospital?
• Openness:
  • How was openness described to you before the adoption.Does the reality of open adoption match what was promised.
  • Benefit and limitations of post adoption contracts. (Did you understand open adoption wasn’t enforceable (may depend upon the state)?)
  • Ethical adoption practices that expectant parents considering adoption should know about.
• Tips for birth parents and adoptive parents to look for in adoption agencies to make sure they are choosing an ethical agency as to how they treat expectant and birth parents.
• Importance of separate legal counsel for birth parents. 

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

Please leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

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