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Books > Health, Home & Family > Family & health > Family & other relationships > Adoption & tracing birth parents
On the day that she decided to marry a widower-also a long-time
friend-Betsy Graziani Fasbinder knew that she wasn't only gaining a
husband, she was inheriting a son. Unlike many stepmothers, Betsy
didn't have to struggle with an ex, or court battles, or the
weekend shuffle between houses-but she did have to navigate living
in the shadow of a young mother taken too soon, to honor the memory
of her son's first mother, and to become the kind of parent and
partner she herself wanted to be. Over time this family would learn
how love's roots were formed in their shared losses, and how the
new family love and joy they created together would become the
richest kind of inheritance.
This series of six picture books guides children through a range of
issues relating to fostering and adoption by focusing on the
experiences of a five-year-old girl called Kirsty and her magic
doll Billy. Billy talks to Kirsty, explains what is happening to
her and explores Kirsty's feelings during her journey from an
abusive home to a loving adoptive family. In the series, Billy
says... * Book 1 "It's not your fault" explores children's feelings
when they are living in neglectful families. * Book 2 "You should
be taken care of" covers fears around moving into foster care. *
Book 3 "Foster carers can help" explains what happens when children
move into foster care. * Book 4 "What you think matters" covers
courts and the planning process. * Book 5 "Waiting can be hard"
focuses on waiting for an adoptive family. * Book 6 "Living as a
new family takes practice" explores living with an adoptive family.
This set is ideal for use by social workers, foster carers,
adoptive parents and counsellors to help children aged 3-8 to
understand the fostering and adoption process and to cope with the
complex feelings that can arise.
Many adopted or foster children have complex, troubling, often
painful pasts. This book provides parents and professionals with
sound advice on how to communicate effectively about difficult and
sensitive topics, providing concrete strategies for helping adopted
and foster children make sense of the past so they can enjoy a
healthy, well-adjusted future. Approximately one of every four
adopted children will have adjustment challenges related to their
separation from the birth family, earlier trauma, attachment
difficulties, and/or issues stemming from the adoption process.
Common complicating issues of adopted children are feelings of
rejection, abandonment, or confusion about their origins. While
many foster and adoptive parents and even many professionals are
reluctant to communicate openly about birth histories, silence only
adds to the child's confusion and pain. This revised and
significantly expanded edition of the award-winning Telling the
Truth to Your Adopted or Foster Child equips parents with the
knowledge and tools they need to communicate with their adopted or
foster child about their past. Revisions include coverage of
significant new research and information regarding the importance
of understanding the child's trauma history to his or her
well-being and successful adjustment in his foster or adoptive
family. The authors answer such questions as: How do I share
difficult information about my child's adoption in a sensitive
manner? When is the right time to tell my child the whole truth?
How do I obtain more information on my child's history? Detailed
descriptions of actual cases help the parent or caregiver find ways
to discover the truth (particularly in closed and international
adoption cases), organize the information, and explain the details
of the past gently to a toddler, child, or young adult who may find
it frightening or confusing. Presents age-appropriate, specific
guidelines that make an intimidating and potentially uncomfortable
task straightforward, organized, and manageable Serves to remove
the fear of how to make sense of the past for foster and adopted
children of all ages, allowing parents, teachers, counselors, and
other caregivers to have open, honest, and beneficial dialogues
with children and teens with tough pasts Explains how children's
development is impacted by separation from their birth families and
identifies the issues generated by the trauma occurring before,
during, and after the separation Reveals powerful insights gained
from the story of one of the first African American children to be
adopted in the United States by a white family-an individual who is
now middle-aged
Instructions Not Supplied is the account of one family's experience
in adopting three children, each of whom turned out to have special
needs, and the challenges they have faced along the way. Some of
the difficult situations they have faced are simply part of a
family life; others are as a direct result of the children's
disabilities and difficulties, including autism, attention deficit
hyper-activity disorder, foetal alcohol syndrome, attachment
disorder and sensory issues. A story of adoption, autism and coming
together as a family, this book describes with honesty and humour
how the behaviour of the children has often challenged the adults
around them. It also explores the process of diagnosis and the
difficulty of getting the right support both for the children and
their parents, with insights for all parents and teachers of
children with complex needs. The book is a unique insight into the
twin challenges of adoption and disability, an invaluable read for
prospective adopters and adoptive parents as well as natural
parents of children with additional support needs. It is equally
valuable for practitioners, as it gives an insight into the family
life of those parenting such children and how best to support them.
Tilly hates her stepfather, Dave. He abuses her mother, but she
refuses to leave him. Frightened for her own safety, Tilly asks to
go into foster care and is placed with Cathy. Tilly arrives with a
graze on her cheek and Cathy becomes increasingly concerned by
Dave's behaviour, especially when she learns he has been showering
Tilly with gifts. While she's busy looking after Tilly and trying
to keep her safe, Cathy is also worried about her own daughter,
Lucy. She has a very difficult decision to make that will affect
the rest of her life, and Cathy hopes she makes the right choice.
Perfect for fans of Maggie Hartley, Lisa Stone and Ann Cusack!
When I am ready, I need you to talk to me and help me understand my
feelings...' This reassuring story helps children aged 5+ with
attachment issues to understand their feelings, open up to a caring
adult and learn how to choose positive behaviours. Ben is made up
of lots of different 'parts' - to name a few, he has happy, caring,
angry, excited, hugging and yelling parts. Ben explains how all
these parts are okay, and that a caring adult can help you to
understand and manage them more easily. This book also features
activities to help children talk about their feelings, and a simple
introduction to attachment theory for adults.
Adult adoptee and family therapist Katie Naftzger shares her
personal and professional wisdom in this guide to help adoptive
parents remain a calm parental influence in the midst of stormy and
erratic teen behavior. This guide describes the essential skills
you need to help your adopted teen confidently face the challenges
of growing up and outlines four key goals for adoptive parents: *
To move from rescuing to responding * To set adoption-sensitive
limits and ground rules * To have connecting conversations * To
help your teen envision their future Parenting in the Eye of the
Storm contains invaluable insights for adoptive parents and simple
strategies you can use to prepare your adopted teen for the journey
ahead and strengthen the family bond in the process. It provides
answers, guidance and understanding - working as a road-map through
the tempestuous teenage years.
Shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2022
Craig Bromfield was just 13 years old when Brian Clough, on a whim,
took him and his older brother Aaron in. They came from Southwick,
a depressed area of Sunderland, where they lived with their abusive
stepfather, and from where they longed to escape. After initially
meeting Clough while out begging for money, Clough later invited
the brothers to stay at his house. From there a relationship formed
which would see Craig living with the Cloughs for nine years, where
he was a first-hand witness to the many aspects of Clough's
character - his gruffness, his humour, his big-heartedness. This is
a beautiful, inspirational story, which has never before been told,
about Clough's gentleness and capacity for generosity. Discover a
very different side to this iconic man, one away from the cameras
and the football, which shows him for the person he really was.
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Suspension
(Paperback)
Paige Riehl; Edited by Diane Lockward
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R381
R353
Discovery Miles 3 530
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Although Emily Buchanan had a highly successful career in
broadcasting and a loving husband there was something missing from
her life: she desperately wanted children. After the trauma of
three miscarriages, Emily and her husband Gerald were forced to
accept the knowledge that they would not be able to have children
of their own and decided to look into adoption. Their desire to
have a very young baby led them to consider an adoption from
abroad. As a journalist Emily knew only too well the sad plight of
many children in the world trafficked to desperate couples and
determined that her child had to come from a country where adoption
was properly regulated.
In this touching story Emily describes their first meeting with
Jade Lin, who had been left on the steps of an orphanage in a small
town in Inner Mongolia just after she had been born. Unlike many of
the thousands of less fortunate babies abandoned each year in
China, Jade Lin had been placed with a foster family before being
approved for adoption and allocated to a family. It was love at
first sight for Emily and Gerald, but they still had obstacles of
language and culture to cross, as well as dealing with the reaction
of friends and family back at home. This diary tells in vivid
detail the highs and lows of Emily's journey to motherhood.
"extraordinarily brave and honest, and written with great
clarity. I can't remember reading anything on the subject that was
as open, ... or done with as much dignity. ...neither of us could
puit it down, and we were both very moved by it. "John Simpson"
"A delightful and candid account of a quest for much wanted
children." "Kate Adie"
"A factual and honest account of a mother's journey in adopting
two daughters from China." "Adeline Yen Mah"
The Children Money Can Buy covers decades of dramatic societal
change in foster care and adoption, including the pendulum swings
regarding open adoption and attitudes toward birth parents, the
gradual acceptance of gay and lesbian adoption, the proliferation
of unregulated adoption facilitators in the U.S., ethical concerns
related to international adoption, and the role money inevitably
plays in the foster care and adoption systems. Special attention is
given to the practice of "baby brokering" and the accompanying
exorbitant finder's fees and financial incentives encouraging birth
mothers to relinquish (or pretend that they are planning to
relinquish) their babies that permeate much of U.S. infant adoption
today. The Children Money Can Buy illuminates the worlds of foster
care and adoption through the personal stories Moody witnessed and
experienced in her many years working in the foster care and
adoption systems. These compelling stories about real people and
situations illustrate larger life lessons about the way our society
values-and fails to value-parents and children. They explore the
root of ethical problems which are not only financially driven but
reflect society's basic belief that some children are more valuable
than others. Finally, Moody makes a plea for change and gives
suggestions about how the foster care and adoption systems could
work together for the benefit of children and families.
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Wicked Girl
(Paperback)
Jeanie Doyle; As told to Sally Morgan
1
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R247
R225
Discovery Miles 2 250
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How do you teach a mother to love her child, when she's still a
child herself? Jeanie Doyle nurtures, teaches and cares for young
and dysfunctional mums, showing them how to care for their newborn
babies, sometimes even taking the mother into foster care before
the baby is born. The first in a brand-new series of books by the
'foster super-gran', Wicked Girl is the shocking true story of the
very first case Jeanie dealt with: a baby girl who was found
abandoned on the steps of a church just before Christmas. While the
14-year-old mother was tracked down, Jeanie took her little
daughter into her own care. But while she tried to help the two of
them heal and bond, the terrible truth about the baby's father was
revealed... A twist on the standard Cathy Glass books, Wicked Girl
offers Jeanie's rare perspective of fostering young women alongside
their babies. Will mother and daughter be reunited for good, or
will the vulnerable young mother make the heartbreaking decision
that they are both better off apart?
Finally, a parenting book which demystifies the latest thinking on
neurobiology, physiology and trauma and explains what the research
means for the everyday life of parents of children who hurt. As
experts on adoption and fostering who are adoptive parents
themselves, Caroline Archer and Christine Gordon explain how this
knowledge can help parents to better understand and care for their
child. They explain why conventional parenting techniques are often
not helpful for the child who has experienced early trauma and
explore why therapeutic reparenting is the only way to help repair
the unhealthy neurobiological and behavioural patterns which affect
the child's development. They do not shy away from how difficult
reparenting is, acknowledging how hard it can be to recognise our
own fallibility as parents and to change our own parenting
patterns. The authors also offer hard-won advice on a range of
common parenting flashpoints - from defusing arguments and
aggression to negotiating bedtimes and breaks in routine, and
making sure that special occasions are remembered for all the right
reasons. Reparenting the Child Who Hurts is a humane, no-nonsense
survival guide for any parent caring for a child with developmental
trauma or attachment difficulties, and will also provide
information and insights for social workers, teachers, counsellors
and other professionals involved in supporting adoptive and foster
families.
A family with a dark secret. A child who refuses to speak. Rosie
must help her before it's too late. Nine-year-old Caitlin has a
secret, but she cannot tell anyone about it. When her mother is
sectioned under the Mental Health Act she and her three siblings
have to go and live with her grandmother Julie and grandad Ryan.
Caitlin finds her new living conditions challenging: cat poo on the
carpet, rubbish everywhere and the constant stare of her grandad -
she retreats more and more into herself. When foster carer Rosie
Lewis meets Caitlin she knows something is deeply wrong with this
little girl, who is withdrawn, afraid and refuses to speak. Rosie
decides to take her in, but Caitlin's silence continues, and Rosie
knows she must act. Why is Caitlin so afraid to speak? Could it be
that the family has a dark secret? One that is so shocking it can
no longer be hidden?
The true story of a 6-year-old boy with a dreadful secret. Oskar's
school teacher raises the alarm. Oskar's mother is abroad and he
has been left in the care of 'friends', but has been arriving in
school hungry, unkempt, and with bruises on his arms, legs and
body. Experienced foster carer Cathy Glass is asked to look after
him, but as the weeks pass her concerns deepen. Oskar is far too
quiet for a child of six and is clearly scared of something or
someone. And who are those men parked outside his school watching
him?
If you would like a baby NOW, but things just aren't happening,
hang in there -- We have the solution.
Frustration, anger, jealousy, and despair are common feelings in
this situation. However, holding on to these emotions too long can
further impair the ability to create your family. "Getting to Baby:
Creating your Family Faster, Easier and Less Expensive through
Fertility, Adoption, or Surrogacy" will show you how to continue
your journey with hope, optimism, and success.
Jennifer and Victoria have been there and done that. The heartfelt
experience that they went through for five years to create their
family is touching, inspiring, and provides a lot of insight on how
to create your family.
Jennifer and Victoria successfully went through the fertility
process and then suffered a miscarriage at 17 weeks; tried adoption
and held a baby for three days before returning home empty handed;
and then discovered the secret of success through surrogacy.
Katherine and Christopher, beautiful, healthy twins were born less
than 12 months from when Jennifer and Victoria met and interviewed
their surrogate.
Whether you want to have your children through fertility
treatments, adoption, or surrogacy, Jennifer and Victoria have
learned and are sharing a lot of shortcuts that will help you save
time and money.
You don't have to be a celebrity to achieve your dreams of having
a family, but we can learn from them by observing which options
were successful for them. Nicole Kidman and Celine Dion used
fertility treatments to have children. Angelina Jolie and and Rosie
O'Donnell chose to adopt children. An increasing number of
celebrities are now choosing surrogacy, to include Sarah Jessica
Parker and Dennis Quaid.
Before you continue to spend money and waste time, read "Getting
to Baby: Creating your Family Faster, Easier and Less Expensive
through Fertility, Adoption, or Surrogacy" and use it as a resource
to successfully create the family you deserve.
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