Are you wanting to adopt domestically, but you are overwhelmed about the process? My husband and I supply information on what we learned after adopting twice in the U.S, good and bad, and offer advice that was given to us by adoption professionals. We share what expenses we incurred, and "talk" to you as if you are sitting in front of us. Questions answered: 1. Why join a support group? 2. What should be in your adoption profile? 3. Reasons why family members and friends are unsupportive, and some advice to handle this. 4. What types of information that your social worker is looking for to complete your homestudy, and questions he of she will most likely ask you 5. Meeting the expectant family for the first time and hospital visits 6. Expenses we encountered, information about taxes and so on. 7. Information about open adoption, and how we contact with our children's biological families. 8. Twenty questions to ask an agency and/or attorney before you work with he or she on an adoption placement. 9. Many tips throughout the book on what we learned good and bad with our adoptions and others we know that have adopted, or are adopted. 10. A few of my favorite web links to help you with your journey to adopt or learn more about the process.

When our son, Michael, joined our family, I was unprepared for the many lessons that I would learn through him. It has been both humbling and inspiring to experience this serendipity. God has created us all so differently, and if we allow our eyes and hearts to be open, we can learn important lessons from one another as we walk together on this side of heaven. - Renia Veldt

The Bear Who Waited is a tale for children who have waited to be adopted. It portrays many feelings that children and parents have while awaiting the big event. The main character is a lovable, humorous stuffed bear purchased around the holidays. He thinks he will be a Christmas present but instead, is placed on a window ledge. He sees the seasons change, and questions the purpose of his existence. Eventually the Bear realizes he was purchased for a child who waited to be adopted. This book contains a message to parents, and a message to professionals.

From the first paragraph we are drawn into the mind and world of a trusting young child. Polly was adopted by a couple who already had a child of their own. We watch as her confidence and self-esteem are eroded by an increasingly abusive childhood. As she moves into teenage years and adulthood, Polly does not judge her adoptive parents but conveys her sheer desperation to prove somehow that she is loveable. We follow Polly's search for her birth mother, whom she eventually meets in the USA. She longs for a fairytale ending. But real life isn't quite like that... This heartfelt book about a relationship with two mothers is written in the present tense which gives it an immediacy and makes for a compelling read. "I was emotionally drained reading Polly's story. I was there with her every step. It's cruel that anyone would treat a human being in this way, especially a child. It's a miracle that she did survive." Helen Robinson, former Chief Executive, Lincoln MIND This book and its two related books, "A Mind To Be Free" and "Crossing The Borderline" are available as a single-volume trilogy under the title, "Letting Go," at a lower price than buying all three individually.

Foster caring is as challenging as it is rewarding. There is a school of thought that if one is interested in fostering, then one can become a foster carer. Considering the many problems that surface on a day-to-day basis in a given fostering environment, it takes much more that interest in fostering to make fostering work. 'Family Matters' frankly discusses what fostering entails and clearly demonstrates how Mohammed and Sharon Lahrichi have had a reasonable degree of success in their fostering work. It documents cases that tell how foster children as well as biological children interpret their lived experiences as children of the same household. It is a book that foster carers, social workers and all those who involve in care work should read. In fact, it will make an interesting read for all members of any given family. 'Family Matters' also advances the idea that fostering is a work of love, which should be taken seriously, but which also should be celebrated in spite of the range of emotions that foster caring is capable of evoking.

St. Gerard Campus in St. Augustine, Florida, is a place where every life is of extreme value. The unborn, the young mother, the parents and staff, the adoptive families and the counselors. Since the doors opened in the 1980's, more than 31,000 babies have been born who might not have been. These are the stories of some of those mothers and babies and how we can all make a difference, one person at a time.

When Italian citizen Roberto G. Ferrari embarked on a journey to adopt a young Chinese boy, the twenty-five days the adoptive father spent there offered him a rare insider's vantage of the famously closed country during an intensely intimate time for his family. To process the experience, the adoptive father chronicled those days in China, exploring the country through the deeply personal lens of his son's connection to his homeland. Ferrari also took in China from the perspective of a Westerner attempting to make sense of this burgeoning global power. Both reflective and informative, Ferrari's detailed account of the adoption process takes in modern China as it increasingly opens its doors to the Western world. In doing so, "Away from China" offers invaluable practical guidance on the international adoption process, as well as the author's insight on key locales in the country from the point of view of a seasoned traveler. From the monuments of Taiyuan to Tienanmen Square, "Away from China" considers this fascinating, rapidly changing nation for an adoptive father and his Chinese son.

Born to a fourteen-year-old girl and an eighteen-year-old high school dropout, the odds of Mark Molzen being in prison, dying young or becoming a drug addict were far more likely than any other outcome. So how did he beat the odds - becoming a successful, highly regarded public relations professional for an $18 billion, Fortune 150 Company? It's all because of the plan God had for him-a plan that started when his understanding of adoption radically changed. Mark Molzen's debut explores the stigma surrounding adoption, delves into what the Bible says about this issue, and examines the inherent power of choosing to accept that adoption is part of God's plan for our lives. Adopted into the United Nations of Adoption, a family consisting of two biological children as well as four adopted children of Native American, Asian American, and African American descent, Molzen's life circumstances changed dramatically the day he was adopted. But his adoption isn't really the story. This life-altering book will teach adopted children, young and old, and their parents that to change how they feel about adoption, they must first understand how God feels about adoption and then choose to accept what that means for their life. And the good news is, the power to do this is already theirs - the power to choose to believe is available to all. Exploring identity, biblical adoption and salvation as well as other adoption issues, Molzen's debut should be viewed as just the beginning, a resounding blast of personal honesty and biblical perspective designed to foment a fundamental wave of change in how adoption is viewed. Written to encourage adopted children and their adoptive parents, Chosen With Purpose: A Story of Adoption and Identity is as enlightening as it is uplifting, demonstrating how the word of God can change everything.