Sarah Crawford, PhD, LPC, is a child therapist and a parent coach in Arizona who specializes in working with parents to address issues related to attachment, parent-child relationships, and adoption. She helps parents identify what their unique situation needs, while helping parents deepen trust and strengthen family connections. We sat down with Sarah to better understand attachment and how attachment concerns can arise in adoption. Here's what Sarah had to say…
October had always been one of my favorite months of the year. Living in Arizona, it is usually the first sign of cooler weather, football is in full swing and my three favorite holidays are on the horizon. When my husband and I were home study approved and certified to adopt in early August, we were quickly matched with an expectant mother due with a baby boy in mid-October. I was so excited about that being the month we would become parents. I purchased the cutest little bear Halloween costume for him and was thrilled to begin to get to know the expectant mother that would become our son’s birth mother. I couldn’t have predicted that on October 7 a sweet baby boy would be born, but by October 10, after cuddling him for days in the hospital, I would be one of so many in the adoption world to experience what is commonly called a “failed adoption.”
Interested in adoption but overwhelmed by all the jargon and legal terms? As an adoptive mom who once was in your shoes, I know how intimidating it can be at the beginning of the process. Here are some common terms used in domestic infant adoption and what they typically mean within the adoption community.
I missed the boat on motherhood.
What does that mean? It means missed opportunity, lost moments never to be reclaimed, chances I will never have.
If you have adopted a child or are considering it, you may already know about the Adoption Tax Credit. The credit, which has been part of federal tax law since 1997, allows adoptive families to defray some of the costs incurred when they grow their families through adoption. It has helped bring together hundreds of thousands of families, many of whom would not have been able to grow their families through adoption without it.
Adoption outreach refers to all of the different steps a prospective adoptive family can take to find and be found by expectant parents considering an adoption plan for their child. It can range from just telling friends and family to spread the word, to leveraging various social media platforms, to paid advertising.
Two sweet Purl families are currently matched with expectant mothers due in the next days and months. It is such an exciting time, but they now must endure the difficult wait that comes with adoption. It brings back lots of memories for me personally of our journey to become parents. I still remember telling one of my friends that my husband and I were going to stop the infertility treatments for awhile and begin the adoption process, and her response: "Well, at least you aren't going to have to go through labor to have your baby". At the time, I didn't think much of the comment, and probably even nodded in agreement. Little did I know, my version of "labor" was going to last over 72 hours, and the first time I experienced that labor, I would be leaving a hospital without a baby.
Adopting a baby is wonderful, awesome, fulfilling experience, but it can also be very HARD! The process itself can be intimidating, and most don’t know where to begin once they make the decision to grow their family through Because of this, we believe that the most efficient, safest and least lonely way to adopt is by utilizing an adoption advisor for your adoption. We hold your hand throughout the adoption process.
Caleb Busak is a talented, aspiring young photographer who was adopted from South Korea as an infant. Today he shares his adoption story, of growing with a different ethnicity than his parents and his community. HIs shares his struggles with the concept of adoption, but also tells of his deep love and respect for his adoptive parents who have given him so much love and so many opportunities. We hope you enjoy his story, as well as the beautiful photos he has taken that are featured here.
Our adoption story started 10 years ago on an old country road. That nudge towards adoption landed us in rural Wisconsin 5 years later-holding our newborn baby girl. Then, three years ago I went to bed after singing “Baby Beluga” and reading “God Found Us You” to our adopted beauty, Annika. That night I had a dream that woke me and catapulted me into writing a book. At 3:00am I shuffled into the back room in our house, opened my computer and started writing.
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Purl Adoption Advisory are professional adoption advisors and not adoption facilitators.
The adoption advisory services that may be provided to you by Purl Adoption Advisory, LLC if you become a client are not legal services. Although the Founder/CEO Katie Zimmerman is a licensed, active attorney in the State of Arizona, in providing these adoption advisory services she is not providing legal services and is not serving as your lawyer. As a result, a client-lawyer relationship will not exist, which means that the Arizona Rules of Professional Conduct that relate to the client-lawyer relationship do not apply, including any protections normally afforded as part of a client-lawyer relationship. If you contact us via our form, you are not creating an attorney-client relationship.
The content on our website should not be considered legal advice. This website is considered an advertisement.
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