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Are you considering fostering but are concerned about how it impacts the kids already living in your home? Join us for a conversation with Michelle Snyder, a foster, adoptive, and bio mom, and her son, Ben, to hear their stories of fostering and how it impacted their family. They are co-authors of Beyond Blood: How Being a Foster Brother Shattered My World and Rebuilt It.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Ben - How old were you when your parents sat you down to talk about fostering?
  • Do you remember how it felt to consider that a child could not safely live with his or her family?
  • What do you remember about the time when your family was preparing, taking classes, getting licensed, etc.?
• Michelle - When you and your husband felt the desire to begin fostering, what were your biggest concerns?
  • What considerations about fostering gave you pause, considering you had two young kids already in your home?
  • How did you and your husband handle those concerns or issues?
• Ben - Can you briefly share the story of your family’s first placement? We’d love to also hear how you think it impacted you and what you took from that experience for the coming placements. 
• Ben - What are some of the benefits or advantages you have seen in your development to young adulthood that you can directly trace to being part of this fostering and adoption journey?
• Character traits your family developed as you faced those challenges. Can you share a short example for a couple of them?
  • Compassion 
  • Perseverance
  • Ability to Adapt/Change
  • Perspective
• Ben’s diagnoses (“twice exceptional”):
  • What did you learn about yourself in that process?
  • How do you feel your unique combination of diagnoses equipped you well for being a foster brother? 
• Saying no to a placement
  • Learning how to say no when you know it’s not the right time or circumstance to say yes to a foster placement? How did you develop that skill?
  • Ben, what did you learn from your parents over the years about the value of knowing when to say yes, and when it’s okay to say no?
• The value of respite for your family and offering it to other foster families
• What practical tips can families implement to prepare for a new placement of a foster, newly adopted, or relative child in their home?

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