This book tells the true story of Cathy s adopted daughter Lucy.Lucy was born to a single mother who had been abused and neglected for most of her own childhood. Right from the beginning Lucy s mother couldn t cope, but it wasn t until Lucy reached eight years old that she was finally taken into permanent foster care.By the time Lucy is brought to live with Cathy she is eleven years old and severely distressed after being moved from one foster home to another. Withdrawn, refusing to eat and three years behind in her schooling, it is thought that the damage Lucy has suffered is irreversible.But Cathy and her two children bond with Lucy quickly, and break through to Lucy in a way no-one else has been able to, finally showing her the loving home she never believed existed. Cathy and Lucy believe they were always destined to be mother and daughter it just took them a little while to find each other.

    Abandoned at age four, nameless, homeless, and utterly alone, this child of destiny roamed the bleak, war-ravaged countryside of South Korea for three years and was finally left for dead. But God had other plans.

    Writing with incisive wit and honesty, Sally Donovan movingly describes the difficulties of living with infertility when friends and family have no idea, and the emotional process of arriving at a decision to adopt. She recounts the bewildering logistics of adoption and, after finally Sally and Rob are joyfully matched with siblings Jaymee and Harlee, how their joy is followed by shock as they discover disturbing details of their children's past. Determined to heal their children, Sally and Rob realise they will need to go 'beyond parenting' to give them with the help they need. By turns heart-rending, inspiring and hilarious, Sally and Rob's story offers a rare insight into the world of adoptive parents and just what it takes to bring love to the lives of traumatised children.

    Too often, we only discuss or theologize the issues, relegating the responsibility to governments. No one can do everything, but everyone can do something; Christians are clearly called to care for orphans, a group so close to the heart of Jesus.Based on his own personal journey toward pure religion, Johnny Carr moves readers from talking about global orphan care to actually doing something about it in Found. Combining biblical truth with the latest social research, this inspiring book:investigates the orphan care and adoption movement in the U.S. today; examines new data on the needs of orphans and at-risk children; connects “liberal issues” together as critical aspects or orphan care; discovers the role of the church worldwide in meeting these needs; develops a tangible, sustainable action plan using worldwide partnerships; fleshes out the why, what, and how of global orphan care.

    She spends her pregnancy surrounded by the mentally challenged and the criminally insane. On April 19, 1964, she gives birth to a child, whom she is forced to give up for adoption.A loving middle-class couple adopts a month-old little girl from Catholic Charities. She is adored and cherished from the very beginning. It is as though she is dropped into the first chapter of a fairy tale-- but we all know how fairy tales go.This is the story of a mother and daughter. Of what it is to give up a child and what it is to be given up. Of what it is to be a family, and to never lose hope-- because anything is possible. In this award-winning memoir, Julie Mannix von Zerneck and Kathy Hatfield recount the stories of their lives. Written in two distinct and deeply expressive voices, their stories seamlessly meld together in a breathtaking ending."The book is beautifully written and...compelling, to the extent that readers might feel they are sitting with the authors, listening to them tell their tale...more like a novel than a memoir."-ForeWord Reviews“Shining through both narratives is goodness and the power of the human spirit. A dually narrated, uplifting tale on overcoming profound adversity.”-Kirkus Reviews “A heartbreaking but ultimately life-affirming mother-daughter story that defies fiction. Every plot twist, every emotion touches a chord, even for those of us who have not had to endure such a brutal separation. Read it and weep—and then finally rejoice. An ode to the enduring power of family ties.”-Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey, author of A Woman of Independent Means“In my writers' workshops, the greatest gospel I can preach is the obvious one—to tell the truth, whatever form it takes. This amazing mother-daughter writing team exemplifies the concept to the max. The plot is Dickensian, rife with villains and struggle, the revealing of it, breathtaking in its simplicity and heartbreaking in its courage. What a story.”-Ernest Thompson, Academy Award-winning writer of On Golden Pond “What an extraordinary and compelling story, all the more so because it’s true—and told so beautifully by its two heroines.”-Alice Maltin, producer & Leonard Maltin, film critic and correspondent for Entertainment Tonight “This story will break your heart, bring on tears of joy, and make you believe in the healing power of love, forgiveness, and family.”-Meredith Rollins, Executive Editor, Redbook Magazine“This is an uplifting story of hope and personal courage that is sure to resonate with most readers.”-Monsters and Critics

    I hadn't slept properly for weeks. All of us had been waiting for this moment for months. Our fourth child was soon to arrive ...This is the story of 18-year-old Kartya Wunderle, one of 64 babies flown out of Taiwan in the early 80s. Babies stolen from their mothers or sold by their families and adopted out to unsuspecting overseas parents. At 15, Kartya began to use heroin in an attempt to take away the pain of not knowing who she was and where she came from. Her distraught parents watched their beautiful daughter slowly slip away from them, spiralling towards a tragic and almost inevitable conclusion. Out of desperation and fired by an unconditional love for her daughter, Nola Wunderle resolved to find Kartya's birth mother and change the ending to Kartya's story. An amazing search for one woman in a country of 22 million began. The result was nothing short of miraculous, and made Kartya a national hero in her homeland. Lost Daughter is a moving testament to the power of love and the strength of the human spirit, one that will humble and inspire all who read it.

    But this isn’t your typical serious memoir about struggling with infertility; it’s an entertaining, witty read that perfectly balances humor with its more poignant moments. Breeding in Captivity is about a quirky, lovable couple that you root for through their fertility struggles and adoption adventures. It's about the hundreds of Internet message boards where annoyingly perky women from Kappa Alpha Fruitcake refer to sex as "babydancing" and sprinkle virtual "baby dust" on each other. It’s about meeting birthmothers and deciding on open adoptions. It’s about being chosen and then having a birthmother change her mind. But ultimately, it’s about hope, how life can surprise you, and laughing through the insanity.

    She’d wanted her adoption to be great story about a child who needed a home and got one, and a family led by God to adopt. Instead, she felt like she’d done something wrong.Adoption has long been enmeshed in the politics of reproductive rights, pitched as a “win-win” compromise in the never-ending abortion debate. But as Kathryn Joyce makes clear in The Child Catchers, adoption has lately become even more entangled in the conservative Christian agenda.To tens of millions of evangelicals, adoption is a new front in the culture wars: a test of “pro-life” bona fides, a way for born again Christians to reinvent compassionate conservatism on the global stage, and a means to fulfill the “Great Commission” mandate to evangelize the nations. Influential leaders fervently promote a new “orphan theology,” urging followers to adopt en masse, with little thought for the families these “orphans” may already have.Conservative evangelicals control much of that industry through an infrastructure of adoption agencies, ministries, political lobbying groups, and publicly-supported “crisis pregnancy centers,” which convince women not just to “choose life,” but to choose adoption. Overseas, conservative Christians preside over a spiraling boom-bust adoption market in countries where people are poor and regulations weak, and where hefty adoption fees provide lots of incentive to increase the “supply” of adoptable children, recruiting “orphans” from intact but vulnerable families.The Child Catchers is a shocking exposé of what the adoption industry has become and how it got there, told through deep investigative reporting and the heartbreaking stories of individuals who became collateral damage in a market driven by profit and, now, pulpit command.Anyone who seeks to adopt—of whatever faith or no faith, and however well-meaning—is affected by the evangelical adoption movement, whether they know it or not. The movement has shaped the way we think about adoption, the language we use to discuss it, the places we seek to adopt from, and the policies and laws that govern the process. In The Child Catchers, Kathryn Joyce reveals with great sensitivity and empathy why, if we truly care for children, we need to see more clearly.

    Bailey is determined to free his friends and family from the horrible puppy mill that they've been forced to live in. This touching tale of a neglected dog shares his experiences in his own voice, taking readers from his days of neglect, to the shelter, to a home filled with love. Follow him on this extraordinary journey and fall in love with a new hero. Bailey shows that it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but it's about the size of the fight in the dog! Enjoy!

    Providing grounded information and advice accompanied by a series of simple 'doodles' throughout, it explains attachment in language that is easy to understand and describes how to apply this information in everyday life. It describes how the attachment patterns in children who are adopted or fostered differ, summarises the latest research in the field and provides advice on how to repair attachment difficulties and to build secure, loving relationships.Covering all of the 'need to know' issues including how to spot attachment difficulties, build resilience and empathy and responding to problematic behaviour, this book will be an invaluable resource for families and professionals caring for children who are fostered, adopted or who have experienced early trauma.

    So, he was hand-reared by keepers at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. For eight months, the keepers crawled on the ground with him to show him how to walk; coughed in his face to teach him discipline; and gave him happy gorilla grumbles to encourage him. But for Umande, something was still missing. Luckily, a thousand miles away at the Columbus Zoo, a mom was waiting just for him. This touching true story about finding a family will resonate with animal lovers and adoptive families alike. Share this book with fans of Owen & Mzee, Tarra & Bella, and Knut.

    In 1942 Elizabeth Bynam Sanders was a young woman who left home under false pretenses and travelled to Our Lady of Victory, a home for unwed mothers in upstate New York. Shortly after surrendering her daughter for adoption, she returned to her life in Johnston County, North Carolina. She never married and never had another child of her own. This powerful and moving memoir speaks of the profound need for connection. It is a story about identity, the hunger we feel for a sense of belonging and the ineffable significance of blood.

    Dyer's candor and soul color each page of The Eye of Adoption. She directly addresses the sorrows of infertility and the demands of adoption while consistently word-weaving a life rope of assurance, humor, and optimism for her readers. A middle-aged wife, mother, and teacher, Dyer "tells it like it is" in hopes that waiting adoptive parents, birthparents, adoptees, and those close to them will find kinship through her story.

    Dana Wynn Steele shares the stories of their special needs children and their adoptions, including one during her battle with breast cancer. As a speaker on domestic, trans-racial, and open adoption, Dana leads us through the challenging maze that sometimes seems insurmountable when adopting through foster care. You'll see the difficulties and share the joys of parenting children who have never experienced "normal" home life. From the adopted rescue animals to the adopted children, life is always surprising at Homestead Ranch, the Steele home. Parents, pastors, teachers, social workers, and anyone who has a heart for vulnerable children will glean from the spiritual truths, blessings, and lessons Dana imparts as she shares their journey with the family God has uniquely given them.  

    All breastfeeding-without-birthing mothers who wish to provide their own milk for their baby will learn the tools and techniques for inducing lactation without pregnancy and birth.

    The patina of the ivy league campus is the perfect canvas for the exotic beauty from India. It is also an environment that Akshaya can safely navigate. A small world that she has minimized and made manageable. Dr. Jared Harrison, a journalist who has been based in the Middle East, has accepted a position as a guest lecturer at the college where Akshaya teaches. Arriving just in time to attend a faculty mixer, he catches a glimpse of Akshaya Bertrand. Immediately, he learns from those who have tried and failed, that the beautiful professor, compared to Lakshmi, Venus and Aphrodite, is an enigma, a seductive sculpture behind a wall of glass. While searching for a way to slip past her armor and into her life, Jared confronts the images and tragedies imprinted on his psyche by those left behind in the war torn world of the Middle East. Akshaya and Jared find themselves drawn to each other, hoping to find compassion, someone they can expose their inner demons to. Funding from the college provides an opportunity to combine Akshaya's love of art with Jared's resources as a war correspondent. Together, they travel to Afghanistan and India, where both finally face the past that has shaped them and the present that defines them. Amongst beauty and poverty as well as war and friendship they find the answers to their individual truths.

    With every bump and bruise and setback, they may wonder if total healing is even possible. In fact, the feeling that "I should be healed by now" is one that every survivor will have to deal with at some time. A survivor himself, Cecil Murphey writes, "I absolutely affirm that God can produce such a miracle. I don't know of any, but I still think that it is possible." So how are survivors to overcome the challenges they are sure to face? Finding strength in community with other survivors is one key to recovery. In Not Quite Healed, two survivors join forces to share insight and encouragement on the issues that challenge them most. After a candid discussion about each issue, the authors provide a self-affirming statement that men can study, memorize, and recite on their darkest days--statements such as: -Forgiveness is a difficult task for me, but it's a simple thing for God. -Accountability is the first step to livability. -God wants to heal my pain to bring healing to others.Whether men are struggling with relying on God, living behind a mask, dealing with flashbacks and recurring dreams, or learning to forgive, Cecil Murphey and Gary Roe offer hope and comfort for the ongoing journey of recovery from sexual abuse.

    Named a Notable Picture Book of 2013 by Shelf Unbound, Earned an Honorable Mention on The 2013 Gittle List. Earned an Honorable Mention in the 2014 Purple Dragonfly Book Awards.ABC, Adoption & Me celebrates the blessing of family and addresses the difficult issues as well. With charming, exuberant illustrations and a diverse representation of families, ABC, Adoption & Me will warm hearts, deepen understanding of what it means to be an adoptive family and provide teaching moments that bring families closer, connected in truth, compassion, and joy. Using the familiar rubric of the alphabet, the book highlights both the joys of adoption and gently introduces the serious topics often considered by adopted children but that parents struggle to find ways of exploring. This sweet book handles the ideas as a normal part of family life.

    Summoned to her childhood home to sort through Penny’s belongings, the timing couldn’t be worse. Grieving over her losses and exhausted from a demanding teaching schedule, she worries that her marriage is collapsing under the pressure. While packing her mother’s closet, Grace discovers a box filled with mysterious keepsakes and old diaries written in Penny’s hand and takes them home. After reading pages filled with typical musings of a teenage girl from a generation ago, she stumbles upon a dark secret and is devastated to learn that what she believed her whole life about her family was based on lies.As Grace digs beneath the Rose family tree, she unearths more than one skeleton buried there. All the while, she must endure the wrath of her grandmother, Eleanor, who is determined to block her efforts to find out what happened when Penny was seventeen, as well as the underlying cause of her premature death. Yet Eleanor harbors a well-kept secret of her own, one more deceitful and calculating than Penny’s sin. Grace’s journey through an emotional labyrinth of passion, shame, and manipulation not only leads to more shocking revelations but also changes the course she had mapped for her life.Through a story told in alternating voices between the past and present where old morals and double standards from the historical 1950s and ‘60s clash with modern day values, Grace must decide if it’s worth taking an unforeseen risk to reaffirm her belief in the power of love. BOOK GROUP GUIDE INCLUDED.

    The data currently collected is only part of the story; there is no data collected at the point of entry into the system and none collected from adults who have experienced being in care and have had the opportunity to reflect upon what happened and therefore contribute to policy making.This book is a collection of stories that focus on the adult voices, including my own, of personal insights and reflections of having been a Looked After child; the stories span five decades.Unique in its delivery, it is expected that this book will be used by foster carers, adopters, social workers, teachers, youth workers and anyone working with young people to gain a deeper insight.“Honest, intelligent and highly-readable – this book is worth a hundred academic tomes to anyone who truly wants to understand what it means to have been a looked after child. A must-read for policy-makers.” Shahid Naqvi, BASW (British Association of Social Workers)This is a story about love and pain, hurt and isolation, a depth of a life, the big things and the little things, how we live our lives through our relationships with others and where we feel we fit in. It is how we explain that relationship that enables us to tell our stories and I tell mine, through the language of emotion and through the feelings that remain with me.Through these stories, we can share lost and unheard voices. We can have a discussion and provide some thought-provoking information and recommendations for foster carers, teachers and staff in social care working directly with young people. The strangeness of there being little information in the public domain about the adults who have been children in a system that had been their corporate parent is highlighted and in doing so gives rise to the opportunity for change.

    The trajectory of unmet expectations, our children s compromised beginnings, and the wounds we carry into our adoptions conspire to take us to a place we didn t belong. Insights on emotional healing help us reclaim hope for our adoption journey. This is not a how-to or a ten-easy-steps-to successful parenting program. It s about real life, real women, and real struggles. It s about relationships and community. It s about reclaiming ourselves as women when adoption dreams shatter. It s about a journey that begins in our mother s heart, and delivers us to the place we do belong- into our Father s arms."

    In 2011, 90% or more of adoption agencies are recommending open adoption. Yet these agencies do not often or adequately prepare either adopting parents or birth parents for the road ahead of them! The adult parties in open adoptions are left floundering. There are many resources on why to do open adoption, but what about how? Open adoption isn't just something parents do when they exchange photos, send emails, share a visit. It's a lifestyle that may intrude at times, be difficult or inconvenient at other times. Tensions can arise even in the best of situations. But knowing how to handle these situations and how to continue to make arrangements work for the children involved is paramount. This book offers readers the tools and the insight to do just that. It covers common open-adoption situations and how real families have navigated common issues successfully. Like all useful parenting books, it provides parents with the tools to come to answers on their own, and answers questions that might not yet have come up. Through their own stories and those of other families of open adoption, they review the secrets to success, the pitfalls and challenges, the joys and triumphs. By putting the adopted children first, families can come to enjoy the benefits of open adoption and mitigate the challenges that may arise. More than a how-to, this book shares a mindset, a heartset, that can be learned and internalized, so parents can learn to act out of love and honesty.

    For the single teenage girl with an unplanned pregnancy, A Bump in Life gathers story after inspiring story of brave young moms who managed to grow in grace and wisdom as an unexpected new life grew inside of them. There's Amy, the Christian girl who could not face her parents but fainted at the abortion clinic just in time to stop the procedure from happening that day (or ever). Jayd could not raise her baby, but she was determined to bless the adoptive parents with a special dedication ceremony honoring their new family. Tasha was two weeks old when her mom left -- and seventeen years later was pregnant with twins of her own. She broke the cycle of abandonment and is a great mom today. Taylor grew up without a father and felt a need to be validated by men. As a high school junior she became pregnant after a first date only to have the guy change his phone number and disappear – but she gave birth to a baby girl that has stolen her heart. Overflowing with encouragement, A Bump in Life will help anyone going through or connected with this situation move from feelings of loneliness, shame, and worry to the far more lasting joy that is God’s redemptive blessing of a child.

    Yet the word has a far nobler significance. Adoption is the permanent placement of a child in a family with all its rights and privileges. God has forever placed us in his family. He has forever made us his children. He has forever changed our legal status. He has forever granted us an inheritance. He has forever lavished his love upon us. A Hope Deferred probes the depths of this wonderful reality by unfolding the six blessings of adoption as found in Romans 8. It intertwines these blessings with an account of one family's journey to international adoption- a journey encompassing twenty years, four continents, and countless joys and sorrows. The result is a valuable glimpse into the essential relationship between adoption, affliction, and the fatherhood of God over his people.

    Each chapter focusses on the common difficulties faced by carers or parents and features quick, applicable ideas with exercises and illustrations. How do you react to a child's difficult behaviour? How do you deal with your own negative emotions? How do you know when to be empathic? The book looks beyond the traditional punishment/reward strategies and aims to provide an explanation for such questions whilst helping the child in the process.This book will prove to be an invaluable resource for parents, foster carers, social workers and professionals working with children who are adopted or fostered.

    This short booklet provides useful information for adults living and working with children impacted by traumatic death.

    Nine months later, Tori, a long term heroin addict, abandons her two-hour-old drug addicted newborn Jeremiah, in a hospital stairwell. Jordyn receives the news and pursues foster adoption. However, Oscar, Tori's possessive drug-addicted boyfriend, is not about to give Jeremiah up so easily. While in confrontation with Tori and Oscar, Jordyn seeks help from the Administration of Children Services (ACS), only to discover she is faced with a maze of departments, regulations, legalities and overworked social workers. Jordyn, however, remains strong and continues to push through the uphill battle, even after she discovers she's pregnant.With all odds against her adoption of Jeremiah, and her pregnancy at high risk from increasing stress, will Jordyn win this tough battle, or will her world crumble before her?

    Readers are led into a deeper understanding of the real God of the Bible and shown the path to a new and immensely satisfying relationship with their loving Father.This compelling work is a thought-provoking and inspirational examination of how today's church views God. As the church struggles to truly experience the unchanging love of our heavenly Father and to rest confidently in God's perfect purpose for each of our lives, the cause of this crucial deficiency is usually overlooked. Who's Your Father? explains how our concept of God has grown increasingly flawed, and it reveals how we have been taught to view our sovereign Father as a benevolent gentleman who won't interfere with human free will. By fostering this view, we've unknowingly created a weak, unreliable, and frustrated God who we falsely believe will only occasionally choose to use his divine power to actively work in our lives in a powerful and effective manner.Writing from the down to earth perspective of a well-versed layperson, Bernecker skillfully shows how we rob ourselves of incredible blessings when we miss the vital connection between the unlimited sovereignty and the unbounded love of the true God of the Bible.An illuminating look at the true nature of God and his dealings with mankind, this extraordinarily insightful book will change readers' lives across the globe.

    After one reckless night with the boy she loves, sixteen-year-old Peggy Sue Lawrence's life changes forever. It is 1957. "Nice" girls don't have sex before marriage, and if they do and it leads to pregnancy, they are whisked out of town. In Peggy Sue's case, she's put on a bus in Hereford, Texas, headed for Cleveland, knowing she'll probably never see Frankie London again. She gives birth to a daughter, Charlee, and hands the baby over to an aunt and uncle, who adopt her with the agreement that the truth never be revealed. But it's too late. Someone knows. And that person will haunt Peggy Sue for years. When a teenaged Charlee forms an all-girl rock band, and gets international press, Peggy Sue is confronted with the realization that keeping secrets is sometimes worse than the secret itself.

    Statutorily referred to as “the rule of hypodescent,” this definition of Blackness is more popularly known as the “one-drop rule,” meaning that one solitary drop of Black blood is enough to render a person Black. Said differently, the one-drop rule holds that a person with any trace of Black ancestry, however small or (in)visible, cannot be considered White. A method of social order that began almost immediately after the arrival of enslaved Africans in America, by 1910 it was the law of the land in almost all southern U.S. states. At a time when the one-drop rule functioned to protect and preserve White racial purity, Blackness was both a matter of biology and the law. One was either Black or White. Period. One hundred years later, however, the social and political landscape has changed. Or has it?(1)ne Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race sets out to explore the extent to which historical definitions of race continue to shape contemporary racial identities and lived experiences of racial difference, particularly among those for whom the legacy of the one-drop rule perceptibly lingers. Featuring the perspectives of 60 contributors representing 25 countries and combining candid narratives with simple yet striking portraiture, this book provides living testimony to the diversity of Blackness. Although contributors use varying terms to self-identify, they all see themselves as part of the larger racial, cultural, and social group generally referred to as Black. They all have experienced having their identity called into question simply because they do not fit neatly into the stereotypical “Black box” — dark skin, “kinky” hair, broad nose, full lips, etc. Most have been asked “What are you?” or the more politically correct “Where are you from?” numerous times throughout their lives. It is through contributors’ lived experiences with and lived imaginings of Black identity that we are able to visualize multiple possibilities for Blackness above and beyond the one-drop rule.The inspiration behind CNN’s Black in America: “Who is Black in America?” and featured on CNN Newsroom, (1)ne Drop continues to spark much-needed dialogue about the intricacies and nuances of racial identity and the influence of skin color politics on questions of who is Black and who is not.(1)ne Drop takes the very literal position that in order for us to see Blackness differently, we have to see Blackness differently.

    Whether you are in the "waiting stage" or you are two, four, six, or even ten plus years into your adoption...this book will enable you to reframe your situation with a clear vision, new knowledge, tools that work, and the support of others who have walked the path before you. Every child who has been adopted has suffered a breech in attachment; no adopted child is exempt. In addition to attachment issues, some children also suffer with difficult behavior issues amongst diagnoses such as RAD, FAS, and those that suffer with grief, anxiety, sensory issues, and the effects of trauma. The author’s breakthrough concept of intentionally creating a safety net to help your child heal fills the book’s entirety. The four-part formula for Building and Maintaining that safety net is laid out in a detailed and user-friendly fashion. It combines the value of knowing yourself, the power of knowledge, specific tools and techniques that work in everyday life, and the keys to maintaining the net over time to create a plan you can put into motion today.

    "Not quite yet, just a few more miles to go," Poppa replies. Moments later, our GPS confirms his prediction as it announces, "You have arrived!" "Are we there yet?" How many times have we heard these words while raising 22 children? And now grandchildren are chiming in! How many times did we ask our own parents while growing up in Vermont? "Are we there yet?" How many times have we asked God this very question, hoping for that answer "You have arrived!"? Have we completed our family? Have we arrived in our careers? Are we there yet spiritually? God's answer is always "Not quite yet - you have a few more miles to go . . . . " Come along with Hector and Sue Badeau on their ultimate road trip - adopting and raising 22 children, from diverse backgrounds with many special needs. Like any road trip, their story has twists and turns, detours and surprises. You'll be inspired, laugh out loud and shed tears as you share their experiences in foster care and adoption, coping with teenage pregnancies, addictions, unimaginable accomplishments and raw moments of grief after the untimely death of a beloved child. "Are We There Yet" is an entertaining story which also imparts nuggets of parenting wisdom for any parent or grandparent. It is packed with spiritual truths and life lessons for teachers, social workers, pastors and others who care about vulnerable children and families in our world today.

    Calm your mind and body before bedtime by taking a journey around the world with this kids yoga storybook.Say good night to the animals of the world! Join six Kids Yoga Stories characters as you perch like a bald eagle, crouch like a tiger, and curl up like a sloth.The book includes a list of Kids Yoga Poses and a Parent Guide with tips on creating a successful bedtime experience.Learn something new, explore movement, and unwind together before bedtime!

    Not much identifying information was provided for adoptive families or for birth parents by the agencies. In Ohio, records were sealed forever. Adoptees and birth mothers were supposed to be thankful for the adoptive family and never look back. Adoptive parents thought their deal was signed and sealed.As a child and teenager, growing up adopted was like a Scarlet Letter "A" if anyone ever found out the truth. At least, that's the way author, Paige Strickland felt as she muddled through social situations and other interpersonal relations. She always loved her adoptive family, but realized she wanted not just more, but what other "regular born" people had: real roots, accurate health history and authentic family lore. She wanted freedom from shame, more dignity, authenticity and a full identity.Then, through random chance, a local TV talk show in 1987 revealed that certain records were open if you were born before 1964 in the state of Ohio, and the author's life would never be the same after that program. During her quest, (pre computer), for her identity, her adoptive father struggled with his own self image and sense of belonging, so both father and daughter embarked on separate and unique parallel missions to find what was missing in their lives.This is the story of how being adopted affected Paige growing up in the 1960s, 70s and early 80s. It shows how one adoptee has embraced and learned to view family more globally. She tells the saga of a loving but dysfunctional family of both blood and choice, trying to cope with typical and not so typical life alterations during the decades of social revolution and free love. She learns that the most fascinating family stories are discovered by those passionate enough to question and search.

    Bizarre behaviors, irrational thoughts, and dangerous preoccupations were the norm—no amount of love, it turns out, can untangle the effects of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. More people are coping with and caring for those affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders than individuals living with autism, but because there is a stigma associated with this preventable, devastating birth defect, it is a pandemic of disability and tragedy that remains underreported and underexplored. When Rain Hurts puts an unapologetic face to living and coping with this tragedy while doggedly searching for a more hopeful outcome for one beautiful, innocent, but damaged little boy.

    At times you feel incredibly isolated and lost. However, with this conversational and practical guide in hand, you will be able to adopt with confidence and parent with education and enthusiasm. Whether you are new to adoption, a seasoned adoptive parent, or you are an adoptee, birth parent, or adoption professional, Come Rain or Come Shine will enhance your understanding and appreciation for transracial adoption.

    Has God touched your life through adoption? This sweet picture book is a wonderful resource for anyone wanting to describe how God lovingly designs all kinds of families through this special gift.

    And, although she was cherished by her adoptive family, she—like so many adoptees—felt a burning desire to find and make contact with her birth parents. Her three-decade search involved institutional stonewalling; the intervention of numerous judges, attorneys, and detectives; hundreds of court filings; mountains of paperwork, and thousands of dollars in expenses. Tirelessly tracking down lead after lead—and with the otherworldly help of a spirit guide named Lily—Rhonda finally unearthed her true history. Her father was none other than Randolph Churchill, son of Sir Winston Churchill. The evidence was clear—there was no question in her mind (though her efforts to secure incontrovertible proof in the form of a DNA test were continually stymied by the Churchill family).The events leading up to this discovery, as well as the aftermath of the astonishing revelation and her face-to-face confrontation of the Churchills, will leave readers in awe of this intrepid heroine of her own life. As full of twists, turns, and suspense as the best fiction, The Fifth and Final Name should prove inspiring to all who yearn to uncover the secrets buried within their own family histories.

    She told her friends and family that her newborn child had died. That lie became the catalyst for the unfolding truth of the adoption of that same baby—Michael —who is, in fact, very much alive and now twenty-two years old. He also has Down syndrome.When Kathryn Hulings adopted Michael as an infant, she could not have known that he would save her life when she became gravely ill and was left forever physically compromised. Her story delights in how Michael’s life and hers, while both marked by difference and challenge, are forever intertwined in celebration and laughter. With candor and a sense of humor, Life With a Superhero wraps itself around the raucous joy of Michael’s existence with his four older siblings who play hard and love big; how Kathryn and her husband, Jim, utilize unconventional techniques in raising kids; the romance between Michael and his fiancée, Casey; the power of dance in Michael’s life as an equalizing and enthralling force; the staggering potential and creativity of those who are differently-abled; and the mind-blowing politics of how Kathryn navigated school systems and societal attitudes that at times fought to keep Michael excluded from the lives of kids deemed “normal.”No other books about the parenting experience outline what to do when, say, a child runs across the roof of a tri-level house pretending he can fly, or shows up in a 7th grade social studies class dressed like Spiderman, or calls 911 when his girlfriend breaks his heart. But, as Michael’s mom, Kathryn has been trying to figure how to be a mother in just such circumstances—sometimes with success, sometimes with dismal failure—for over two decades.

    For over two decades, Gary Stephens, his wife Helen, and their four biological children lived in Hong Kong. There they worked with Vietnamese refugees, then founded several homes for orphans and assisted with local and international adoptions. Later, their work spilled into mainland China, when they learned of baby girls being abandoned in alarming numbers, innocent victims of the one-child policy. Gary and Helen acted, helping to found an orphanage in a city in southern China. But the heart of this story is their son Jacob, who was born without eyes and subsequently abandoned. Underweight and sickly, two-year-old Jacob had lived in four different institutions before they found him and brought him to their home for children with special needs. They adopted him in 1998 and have spent the last sixteen years reclaiming what was lost in those first two. Waiting for a Father is a story of hope and reconciliation, of people who did not look away, who instead opened their hearts to a child who needed them. This inspiring message is a call to action: to help empty the orphanages of the world...one child at a time.

    He's also learned that once you are ten, the odds of finding a family to adopt you don't look so good. That's the part he wasn't supposed to overhear.Miriam Riley is up against a deadline to give Billy the 'forever family' that every child deserves. Determined to cut through red tape, she finds three very different couples who might fit the bill, though prospective parents come with issues of their own.Through Billy's watchful eyes, the summer unfolds. What does he really need? Will anyone choose him?

    Through the stories of individual families, "Ladybug Love" chronicles both the challenges of international adoption – crushing paperwork, dueling bureaucracies, and the agony of seemingly endless waiting - and the unique, universal moment of a parent seeing the face that becomes family.

    So when she and her husband, Doug, began the adoption process, the hopeful mother-to-be had her sights set on quickly welcoming two beaming babies to make the Pandolf house a family home. However, after three years; four trips to Russia; one trip to Washington, DC; and two plane crashes that threatened to bring their dream down around them, she came to realize that a bigger destiny awaited them on the other side of the world. As the adoptive parents of four Russian siblings, the young couple from Long Island learned the true meaning of family, and what it means to go the extra mile to give your children what they need. Beginning with the first meeting with an adoption agency, The Journey for Mama’s Babies chronicles the Pandolfs’ three-year odyssey to bring their babies home. From her naïve initial assumptions about the process to her ultimate hard-won savvy and resolve, Pandolf shares every key aspect of the experience, including the unexpected depression that can be companion to this emotionally wrenching process. With clear-eyed candor, the author recounts the ups and downs, the unexpected twists, and the backward loops that frequently punctuated their mission. Along the way, she and her husband were also faced with heartbreaking decisions that neither had anticipated, as their dream of two children quickly grew when a larger group of siblings presented itself. At the same time, the couple also confronted the demand for an ironclad resiliency due to countless setbacks, never-ending red tape, and a constantly shifting perspective on what it truly means to be a family. Still, their challenges only began when they finally were joined together in the United States, as the Pandolfs scrambled to help their children make the transition from speaking Russian to speaking English and help them adjust to their new surroundings. Enlightening, easy to read, and arrestingly honest, The Journey for Mama’s Babies will captivate anyone who has ever navigated the intricacies of the adoption process or who cares about someone who has. Both inspiring and open-eyed, this tender, telling story of a family built across oceans, languages, and every imaginable obstacle will take hold of your heart, and make you hold your loved ones closer still.

    Adopting the Father's Heart is a vulnerable and challenging look into God's call to orphan care through one couple's experience with foster care and adoption.

    Transue-Woolston is an adult adoptee, social worker, author, and speaker. She debuted in the adoption activism community as a blogger whose writing processed both her personal and political experience of being adopted. Throughout this book, readers bear witness to key moments in the unfolding of an adoptee from a quiet contemplator to an outspoken advocate for the rights of adoptees and their loved ones. "The Declassified Adoptee Essays of an Adoption Activist" offers a wide collection of writings that were highlighted as significant by readers. These essays have been read on the floors of adoption hearings, mailed by adoptees to family members to expand their understanding of being adopted, and sent to adoption agencies to encourage greater availability of post-adoption support. By addressing adoption through brief essays, the book provides an avenue through which readers can begin to metabolize some of the tougher concepts in adoption.

    In particular this conversation often focuses on the two fastest-growing demographic groups in the United States: Asian Americans and Latinos. In Academic Profiling, Gilda L. Ochoa addresses this so-called gap by going directly to the source. At one California public high school where the controversy is lived every day, Ochoa turns to the students, teachers, and parents to learn about the very real disparities—in opportunity, status, treatment, and assumptions—that lead to more than just gaps in achievement.In candid and at times heart-wrenching detail, the students tell stories of encouragement and neglect on their paths to graduation. Separated by unequal middle schools and curriculum tracking, they are divided by race, class, and gender. While those channeled into an International Baccalaureate Program boast about Socratic classes and stress-release sessions, students left out of such programs commonly describe uninspired teaching and inaccessible counseling. Students unequally labeled encounter differential policing and assumptions based on their abilities—disparities compounded by the growth in the private tutoring industry that favors the already economically privileged.Despite the entrenched inequality in today’s schools, Academic Profiling finds hope in the many ways students and teachers are affirming identities, creating alternative spaces, and fostering critical consciousness. When Ochoa shares the results of her research with the high school, we see the new possibilities—and limits—of change.

    But I continue to foster because I have come to understand how valuable the experience is for everyone involved." "Giving the Baby Back" documents one young woman's single-minded pursuit of motherhood, and the relationships and opportunities that developed along the way. A personal, sometimes anguishing reflection on decisions made, risks taken, and how it feels to raise another woman's child. From the dusty streets of Puerto Rico to the shiny fertility clinics of Boston, and ending at a non-descript courthouse in Hawaii, this story explores the many ways it is possible to become a parent, and the determination and patience sometimes required to succeed.

    Finally sorting myth from science, Working with Adoptive Parents will give therapists, and quite a few nonprofessionals considering adoption, the real story of what it means to make this momentous choice. Better yet, it does so without letting the data speak in place of the parents themselves, in all their fear, doubt, and joy." --Jesse Green, author of The Velveteen Father: An Unexpected Journey to ParenthoodEditors Virginia Brabender and April Fallon are clinical psychologists and also adoptive parents whose families are acquainted with both the uncertainty and joy of adoption. In Working with Adoptive Parents, they offer an in-depth treatment of the distinctive needs, feelings, impulses, expectations, and conflicts that adoptive parents experience through the stages of adoption and beyond. This volume offers a comprehensive picture of adoption through an exploration of the experiences and developmental processes of the adoptive parent.Featuring contributions from mental health professionals whose careers have focused on work with families through the adoption process, this unique book:Covers the theory, research, and practice of adoptive parenting throughout the life cycle Explores the issues unique to the adoptive mother and adoptive father as they traverse the stages of parenting Offers a close look at families with special needs children Acknowledges and explores the great diversity among adoptive families and the kinship networks in which they are embedded Examines attachment issues between adoptive parent and child Providing a framework for therapists to conceptualize their work with adoptive parents, Working with Adoptive Parents clarifies and facilitates the journey that many of these families face.

    The devotional is co-written by Carol Lozier LCSW, an adoption therapist, and Lisa Edmunds, an adoptive mom. The 120 devotions offer information, hope, and comfort to adoptive and foster moms as they trek through this journey of healing alongside their child.

    Fernando Kuehnel went from a deprived boyhood in an orphanage to life on the streets of Manila searching the trash for food and scrap metal before being adopted along with his two brothers by an American couple. Culture shock, heartbreak, isolation and grief await the boys in their new home. It was not a dream come true - and the three boys found themselves abandoned again before being adopted a second time. Mercifully, their third set of parents is sensitive and prepared. Fernando Kuehnel shares his struggle to build a life of meaning and find real love after losing everything repeatedly. The road is rocky, and further heartbreak awaits before he discovers his true passion in life. This is a gripping read of an unforgettable story of searing loss and hard-won happiness. This quest to find love and discover the meaning of family takes the reader through twists and turns where soaring optimism is met with grim disappointment and despair. False steps and wrong turns plague Fernando Kuehnel as he struggles to come to terms with his lifelong grief and understand how to love without fear. He and his brothers take an epic journey through life, living through hope and despair on a massive scale. When you buy this book, the royalty is donated to Kcharity.com founded by the author. A charity that helps orphanages and foster home worldwide.