An essential resource for transracially adoptive parents and the professionals who serve them, this book offers practical strategies for helping a transracially adopted child through the challenges he or she may face. Anchored in a qualitative study of parents who have adopted children identified as being of a different race, this book draws from real-life experiences to raise and respond to questions that arise before, during, and after transracial adoption. Its goal: to help adoptive parents (and child welfare professionals) understand the underlying racial challenges in a transracial adoption so they can help their children cope. The book addresses questions from the obvious-for example, how to respond to comments from family and community members-to the practical-how a Caucasian mother can learn to help her African American daughter groom her hair. Topics include parental understanding of race while growing up, parental understanding of the challenges within the community, and communicating within the adoptive family. The book also shares advice from practitioners about preparing and supporting families in transracial adoption. A highlight of this book is a chapter written by three adult adoptees who grew up within transracial families. Equipped with the information in this helpful volume, readers will be prepared to parent in ways that empower, rather than impede, their child's social, emotional, and identity development. This book will enable children welfare professionals to better help and support parents involved in these processes. Includes advice and questions for discussion and thought by parents considering transracial adoption; for parents already on the journey with older children, the authors examine racial identity development Offers concrete strategies for parents parenting a child from a different race Provides practical steps related to managing influences and opinions from within the extended family and the community Suggests ways parents can learn from members of their child's racial community-and how to manage challenges that arise in transracial adoption situations Shares the stories of three adults who were transracial adoptees as well as vignettes from (and interviews with) dozens of parents who were involved in transracial adoptions

Who among your circle of friends or family has not been caught up in one or more of these dilemmas: family problems, a difficult choice between an abortion or adoption, an unjust legal system or loss of career, drugs or alcohol dependency, a religious identity crisis or thoughts of suicide? Perhaps someone you know is a Holocaust victim or their descendant, or been touched by assimilation problems. It is all here, in a compelling saga, based on the lives of two Jewish families that converge over an adopted child. A sealed adoption agreement is breached, and the birth-mother and adoptive-mother are forced to confront each other's complicated histories. Spanning seventy years and two continents, the tragedies and triumphs of both families are woven together, ultimately leading to redemption. In recent years there have been a number of books written by a birth-mother forced to give up her child or by the adopted child reuniting with her biological parents. This book is unique. The Blessing and the Curse is written from my point of view, as the adoptive-mother, with the cooperation of the birth-mother and her family. It cracks open the facade of family life, digging deeper into who we are and why. Nothing happens in a vacuum. This saga poignantly reveals the ups and downs, the real life dramas, that funnel our choices and defines who we are.

What happens when all that is familiar disappears...when everything you see, taste, smell, feel, hear....is suddenly gone and lost to the other side of the world? Enter the world of An-Ya and Her Diary... An-Ya and Her Diary chronicles the journey of an 11 year old adoptee from China. Written in diary format, young An-Ya reveals her emotional journey as she is catapulted from a Chinese orphanage into a middle class home in America. The diary, into which she journals, was the only item left with An-Ya when she was found as an infant. For 11 years An-Ya has left the diary blank as she patiently waited in China for her biological family to return. Ultimately, after her adoption to America, she feels compelled to write her story down. Inside her diary she strives to connect the two severed worlds in which she has lived. An-Ya's story is one of incredible loss, filled with painful transitions and longed for hope. It is a story that will linger with you after its final page is turned. AN-YA AND HER DIARY: READER AND PARENT GUIDE...NOW AVAILABLE

Many families want to adopt, but do not have the large amount of money it takes to complete a private domestic or international adoption. Some quickly give up the idea of adopting and are left feeling frustrated, overwhelmed, and discouraged. Those who choose to proceed often take out large loans or borrow from family and friends which adds to the financial pressure on the family. Author Julie Gumm shares proven strategies from her own experience as well as from others that include applying for grants, creative budgeting, and fundraising that prospective adoptive parents can use to prepare for and avoid those high costs associated with adoption.

Our Furry Son is a short story about Lio, a little kitten lost in the city, who is taken to an animal shelter, where there are only two alternatives: adoption or death. Just when he was losing hope, he is adopted by a woman and her husband who become his saving angels. The kitten has a special charisma, and some mysterious behaviors. He shows his gratitude by a profound love, so much so, that his parents cannot help but feel moved. They share emotions and experiences that make them a real family. The parents learn to understand his language and how to take care of him. Lio becomes the child that they never had and are grateful to life for this wonderful gift.

Gentle, imaginative Hetty feels at home with her kindly parents but struggles to find her place in a new school. She takes refuge in her secret forest hideaway. When an accident forces her to rely on others, will Hetty find what it takes to grow up and fit in? And is a mysterious stranger watching over her?