Learn more about the adoption process.
Be the Bridge – A Guide to Transracial Adoption
This is a blog post written by Gina Fimbel, MSW. She’s an educator with Be the Bridge, an organization created to empower people and culture toward racial healing, equity and reconciliation. In her post, she explains more about their organization as well as their Transracial Adoption Guide that can help prospective adoptive families considering transracial adoption, or families who have already adopted transracially. Click here to read more, or to purchase their Transracial Adoption Guide.
Born Out of Tragedy…
Do you watch This is Us? It is my favorite show right now, but I have to admit I have to be in the right mood to watch it, because it is rare that I don’t end up in tears during an episode. I haven’t yet watched this week’s episode (I was too exhausted to cry last night), but the first episode of this season was SO GOOD. In that episode they discussed COVID and the racial tensions of 2020, and the impact of these events on a close-knit family, including a 40 year old Black man who was adopted at birth by this family. This episode also touched on Alzheimer’s/Dementia, and broken relationships within that family. Many of these topics really hit home for me when I watched it, and I’m pretty sure I cried for about an hour afterwards.
Pre-Adoption Consultations from the Adoption Medicine Clinic
Today, we are featuring a piece written by Judith K. Eckerle, M.D. FAAP, Director of the Adoption Medicine Clinic (“AMC”) at the University of Minnesota. AMC is an outpatient clinic serving families with children adopted domestically, internationally, and from foster care. AMC provides pre-adoption consultations, medical reviews, travel counseling, and comprehensive post-adoption care. Their services can help prospective adoptive families consider their preferences and openness in their adoption journey. To learn more about their services, click here.
Substance Exposure In Utero
This is a guest blog post written by a mom through adoption, and a former Purl family. She is writing anonymously so that we can continue to protect her child’s adoption story.
When you decide that adoption will be a means to growing your family, you’re saying yes to a great deal of unknowns, whether you realize it or not. Post-home study, once you’re working with an adoption professional like an advisor, licensed agency, or an adoption attorney, you’ll be confronted with your “preferences” for your child and the circumstances in which he or she has been conceived and born. When you say yes to adoption, you say yes to an absence of control. Click here to learn more!
Proud To Be Adopted (An Adoptee’s Perspective)
To celebrate National Adoption Awareness Month, we are sharing resources to help prospective adoptive parents and adoptive parents in an adoption journey. But we think the best way to learn about adoption is from adoption perspectives, particularly the perspective of the adoptee, the part of the triad that doesn’t typically get to enter into adoption voluntarily. Today, we are sharing the perspective of an adoptee and Purl’s Administrative Assistant, Emily, who wanted to share more about her adoption story, and her thoughts and feelings towards her adoption (see her initial post here). Keep in mind that no two adoptions are the same, and you will hear both positive and negative stories of adoption from adoptees, but we are excited to share her perspective.
My name is Emily, and I’m proud to be adopted. Click here to read more….
5 Steps to Prepare Financially for Adoption
We are featuring a resource to prepare financially for adoption and sharing a blog post written by guest writer, Laura Coleman, AFC® with Family Money Coaching. Laura is an adoption money coach from Tennessee. She and her husband adopted 3 children. You can follow her blog and podcast at www.familymoneycoaching.org. Click here to learn more about her suggestions for preparing financially for adoption, with links to some added resources.
Natural Haircare Coaching: Tutus & Tennis Shoes
Today we are featuring an amazing resource for prospective adoptive families and adoptive families considering transracial (Black) adoption: Kanisha Tillman, the owner of Tutus & Tennis Shoes LLC (TTS). TTS has been designed to be a community enterprise that celebrates everything about the beauty and health of naturally curly hair and black girls. TTS is dedicated to making sure that everyone has access to the proper education and support in taking care of their child’s naturally curly hair. What started as a brick and mortar children’s salon in Des Moines, Iowa has grown into a global community of fellow natural hair lovers, including and focusing on transracially adoptive families. TTS offers online courses in haircare, support groups, virtual 1 on 1 sessions for education, and an online store full of tools and products to ensure total hair care success. Click here to read more about her and access her ABC’s of Hair Care, and the Tutus Hair Care Shopping List.
Adoption Tax Planning and Filing Resource
On a day of uncertainty, let’s talk about something that is certain - taxes! As we go through November’s National Adoption Awareness Month, we are identifying resources that help prospective adoptive families and families who have adopted with some aspect of the adoption process. I like talking about taxes about as much as I like talking about politics, but due to tax credits, deductions and subsidies available to adoptive families and the increasing costs in domestic infant adoption, it is an important topic for any family considering or who has completed an adoption. Click here to learn about tax professionals who specialize in helping families who have adopted or are considering adoption with their tax needs.
National Adoption Awareness Month
November is National Awareness Month. During the month of November we celebrate and raise awareness of adoption. While every type of adoption is celebrated, the particular focus this month is to raise awareness about the urgent need for adoptive families for children and youth in foster care. During the month of November, people across the nation raise awareness of adoption and hope that awareness of adoption encourages others to open their homes to children waiting for a forever home. Also, this month includes National Adoption Day, which is usually observed in courthouses nationwide, where thousands of adoptions are finalized on National Adoption Day,. COVID has put a damper on some state’s celebrations, but we are hopeful that there will still be energy around this important cause. This year, Purl will be highlighting some of our favorite resources for both prospective adoptive families and families that are already formed through adoption. We hope you’ll enjoy what we share!
The Adoption Baby Shower Dilemma
Adoption changes the way in which parents prepare for a child. When you are preparing to have a child biologically, you typically have 9 months to think about your registry, what you might need, and time for friends and family to offer to throw you a baby shower where you get many of the items you might need to bring home a new baby. If you are adding to your family through domestic infant adoption, many prospective adoptive parents struggle with whether and when it is appropriate to have a baby shower, but at the same time they could really use the baby items and the support from friends and family before they take home their child. So, I do think prospective adoptive parents should consider having an adoption baby shower, but I think the timing of that shower is really important. Click here to learn more.
A Purl Family’s Pregnancy Loss + Infertility Journey
Priscilla is a prospective adoptive mother who has been through tremendous tragedy and loss trying to grow her family. Today, in honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness week, she shares her three pregnancy losses and her infertility journey in hopes that it will help others feel less alone in the process. Now, Priscilla and her husband Daniel are a Purl family who feel like these losses led them to their adoption journey. To read more about their story, click here.
Gender Specificity in An Adoption Journey
Recently, I have had an increasing number of hopeful adoptive parents contacting us at Purl and desiring a specific gender in their adoption. As a mom to two daughters who considered adopting a third child, we toyed with the idea of completing our family by adding a baby boy. I can understand that inclination. However, many hopeful adoptive families make the choice to limit themselves on gender without truly understanding and acknowledging how much more difficult being gender specific can be in your adoption journey. Click on our link to learn more.
The Adoption Profile – Do we really need professional photos?
Popping on here quickly to address a question I get asked a lot, do we really need professional photos in order to have a good adoption profile?! The answer is no, you don’t need professional photos taken specifically for your adoption profile, but you do need high quality photos. Those don’t have to come through professional photos, but generally professional photos will ensure high quality photos to use in a profile. At a minimum, you’re going to need photos taken with a good digital camera, or at least a relatively new phone, to take photos of 2 MB or higher. Click here to learn more!
Post-Adoption Depression & Anxiety
Mental health therapist and adoptive mother shares the “what” and “why” factors related to post-adoption depression and anxiety. Though these diagnoses are frequently given to biological mothers and fathers, many adoptive parents struggle with the same diagnosis and suffer alone and under-supported. Click here to learn more about post-adoption depression and anxiety.
What NOT to Say to a Parent Through Adoption
Just a quick note to remind even those well-intentioned people who ask questions or make comments about adoption to adoptive parents. This is a blog post I can relate to identifying 10 Things NOT to say to an adoptive parent, as I believe I’ve been asked/told all of these 10 things she points out at one point or another after adopting our daughter Cora. I have shared insight about positive adoption language, myths and misnomers and similar topics before, but hopefully this is a good reminder. Surprisingly enough, I have actually gotten these questions by perfect strangers more than even close friends or family. So here’s a quick list of what NOT to say…
Transracial Adoption – Why Understanding and Caring for Black Hair Is A “Non-Negotiable”
An adoptive mother of a black daughter shares with us today about the importance of black hair care and why it is nonnegotiable to learn more about this vital piece of adopting a child of color. She believes this knowledge is helpful in honestly laying out there before a white family decides to adopt a black child. She also includes details on her daughter’s hair care, so that we can all understand the specificity of hair care. Click here to read more.
Differences in Openness Within an Adoptive Family
Purl’s new adoption advisor and adoptive mother shares her perspective on her three daughter’s adoptions. She explores themes surrounding her eldest daughter’s open adoption and what that specifically looks like for her family, with the differing degrees of openness with her other children’s birth family.
Adult Adoptee Reflects On Her Closed Adoption
Stefani is an adult adoptee, married and with two children who has taken the time to reflect on her adoption. Today, we are fortunate enough to read about how her closed adoption impacted her and later, what meeting her birth mother was like.
Be the Bridge – A Guide to Transracial Adoption
This is a blog post written by Gina Fimbel, MSW. She’s an educator with Be the Bridge, an organization created to empower people and culture toward racial healing, equity and reconciliation. In her post, she explains more about their organization as well as their Transracial Adoption Guide that can help prospective adoptive families considering transracial adoption, or families who have already adopted transracially. Click here to read more, or to purchase their Transracial Adoption Guide.
Born Out of Tragedy…
Do you watch This is Us? It is my favorite show right now, but I have to admit I have to be in the right mood to watch it, because it is rare that I don’t end up in tears during an episode. I haven’t yet watched this week’s episode (I was too exhausted to cry last night), but the first episode of this season was SO GOOD. In that episode they discussed COVID and the racial tensions of 2020, and the impact of these events on a close-knit family, including a 40 year old Black man who was adopted at birth by this family. This episode also touched on Alzheimer’s/Dementia, and broken relationships within that family. Many of these topics really hit home for me when I watched it, and I’m pretty sure I cried for about an hour afterwards.
Pre-Adoption Consultations from the Adoption Medicine Clinic
Today, we are featuring a piece written by Judith K. Eckerle, M.D. FAAP, Director of the Adoption Medicine Clinic (“AMC”) at the University of Minnesota. AMC is an outpatient clinic serving families with children adopted domestically, internationally, and from foster care. AMC provides pre-adoption consultations, medical reviews, travel counseling, and comprehensive post-adoption care. Their services can help prospective adoptive families consider their preferences and openness in their adoption journey. To learn more about their services, click here.
Substance Exposure In Utero
This is a guest blog post written by a mom through adoption, and a former Purl family. She is writing anonymously so that we can continue to protect her child’s adoption story.
When you decide that adoption will be a means to growing your family, you’re saying yes to a great deal of unknowns, whether you realize it or not. Post-home study, once you’re working with an adoption professional like an advisor, licensed agency, or an adoption attorney, you’ll be confronted with your “preferences” for your child and the circumstances in which he or she has been conceived and born. When you say yes to adoption, you say yes to an absence of control. Click here to learn more!
Proud To Be Adopted (An Adoptee’s Perspective)
To celebrate National Adoption Awareness Month, we are sharing resources to help prospective adoptive parents and adoptive parents in an adoption journey. But we think the best way to learn about adoption is from adoption perspectives, particularly the perspective of the adoptee, the part of the triad that doesn’t typically get to enter into adoption voluntarily. Today, we are sharing the perspective of an adoptee and Purl’s Administrative Assistant, Emily, who wanted to share more about her adoption story, and her thoughts and feelings towards her adoption (see her initial post here). Keep in mind that no two adoptions are the same, and you will hear both positive and negative stories of adoption from adoptees, but we are excited to share her perspective.
My name is Emily, and I’m proud to be adopted. Click here to read more….
5 Steps to Prepare Financially for Adoption
We are featuring a resource to prepare financially for adoption and sharing a blog post written by guest writer, Laura Coleman, AFC® with Family Money Coaching. Laura is an adoption money coach from Tennessee. She and her husband adopted 3 children. You can follow her blog and podcast at www.familymoneycoaching.org. Click here to learn more about her suggestions for preparing financially for adoption, with links to some added resources.
Natural Haircare Coaching: Tutus & Tennis Shoes
Today we are featuring an amazing resource for prospective adoptive families and adoptive families considering transracial (Black) adoption: Kanisha Tillman, the owner of Tutus & Tennis Shoes LLC (TTS). TTS has been designed to be a community enterprise that celebrates everything about the beauty and health of naturally curly hair and black girls. TTS is dedicated to making sure that everyone has access to the proper education and support in taking care of their child’s naturally curly hair. What started as a brick and mortar children’s salon in Des Moines, Iowa has grown into a global community of fellow natural hair lovers, including and focusing on transracially adoptive families. TTS offers online courses in haircare, support groups, virtual 1 on 1 sessions for education, and an online store full of tools and products to ensure total hair care success. Click here to read more about her and access her ABC’s of Hair Care, and the Tutus Hair Care Shopping List.
Adoption Tax Planning and Filing Resource
On a day of uncertainty, let’s talk about something that is certain - taxes! As we go through November’s National Adoption Awareness Month, we are identifying resources that help prospective adoptive families and families who have adopted with some aspect of the adoption process. I like talking about taxes about as much as I like talking about politics, but due to tax credits, deductions and subsidies available to adoptive families and the increasing costs in domestic infant adoption, it is an important topic for any family considering or who has completed an adoption. Click here to learn about tax professionals who specialize in helping families who have adopted or are considering adoption with their tax needs.
National Adoption Awareness Month
November is National Awareness Month. During the month of November we celebrate and raise awareness of adoption. While every type of adoption is celebrated, the particular focus this month is to raise awareness about the urgent need for adoptive families for children and youth in foster care. During the month of November, people across the nation raise awareness of adoption and hope that awareness of adoption encourages others to open their homes to children waiting for a forever home. Also, this month includes National Adoption Day, which is usually observed in courthouses nationwide, where thousands of adoptions are finalized on National Adoption Day,. COVID has put a damper on some state’s celebrations, but we are hopeful that there will still be energy around this important cause. This year, Purl will be highlighting some of our favorite resources for both prospective adoptive families and families that are already formed through adoption. We hope you’ll enjoy what we share!
The Adoption Baby Shower Dilemma
Adoption changes the way in which parents prepare for a child. When you are preparing to have a child biologically, you typically have 9 months to think about your registry, what you might need, and time for friends and family to offer to throw you a baby shower where you get many of the items you might need to bring home a new baby. If you are adding to your family through domestic infant adoption, many prospective adoptive parents struggle with whether and when it is appropriate to have a baby shower, but at the same time they could really use the baby items and the support from friends and family before they take home their child. So, I do think prospective adoptive parents should consider having an adoption baby shower, but I think the timing of that shower is really important. Click here to learn more.
A Purl Family’s Pregnancy Loss + Infertility Journey
Priscilla is a prospective adoptive mother who has been through tremendous tragedy and loss trying to grow her family. Today, in honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness week, she shares her three pregnancy losses and her infertility journey in hopes that it will help others feel less alone in the process. Now, Priscilla and her husband Daniel are a Purl family who feel like these losses led them to their adoption journey. To read more about their story, click here.
Gender Specificity in An Adoption Journey
Recently, I have had an increasing number of hopeful adoptive parents contacting us at Purl and desiring a specific gender in their adoption. As a mom to two daughters who considered adopting a third child, we toyed with the idea of completing our family by adding a baby boy. I can understand that inclination. However, many hopeful adoptive families make the choice to limit themselves on gender without truly understanding and acknowledging how much more difficult being gender specific can be in your adoption journey. Click on our link to learn more.
The Adoption Profile – Do we really need professional photos?
Popping on here quickly to address a question I get asked a lot, do we really need professional photos in order to have a good adoption profile?! The answer is no, you don’t need professional photos taken specifically for your adoption profile, but you do need high quality photos. Those don’t have to come through professional photos, but generally professional photos will ensure high quality photos to use in a profile. At a minimum, you’re going to need photos taken with a good digital camera, or at least a relatively new phone, to take photos of 2 MB or higher. Click here to learn more!
Post-Adoption Depression & Anxiety
Mental health therapist and adoptive mother shares the “what” and “why” factors related to post-adoption depression and anxiety. Though these diagnoses are frequently given to biological mothers and fathers, many adoptive parents struggle with the same diagnosis and suffer alone and under-supported. Click here to learn more about post-adoption depression and anxiety.
What NOT to Say to a Parent Through Adoption
Just a quick note to remind even those well-intentioned people who ask questions or make comments about adoption to adoptive parents. This is a blog post I can relate to identifying 10 Things NOT to say to an adoptive parent, as I believe I’ve been asked/told all of these 10 things she points out at one point or another after adopting our daughter Cora. I have shared insight about positive adoption language, myths and misnomers and similar topics before, but hopefully this is a good reminder. Surprisingly enough, I have actually gotten these questions by perfect strangers more than even close friends or family. So here’s a quick list of what NOT to say…
Transracial Adoption – Why Understanding and Caring for Black Hair Is A “Non-Negotiable”
An adoptive mother of a black daughter shares with us today about the importance of black hair care and why it is nonnegotiable to learn more about this vital piece of adopting a child of color. She believes this knowledge is helpful in honestly laying out there before a white family decides to adopt a black child. She also includes details on her daughter’s hair care, so that we can all understand the specificity of hair care. Click here to read more.
Differences in Openness Within an Adoptive Family
Purl’s new adoption advisor and adoptive mother shares her perspective on her three daughter’s adoptions. She explores themes surrounding her eldest daughter’s open adoption and what that specifically looks like for her family, with the differing degrees of openness with her other children’s birth family.
Adult Adoptee Reflects On Her Closed Adoption
Stefani is an adult adoptee, married and with two children who has taken the time to reflect on her adoption. Today, we are fortunate enough to read about how her closed adoption impacted her and later, what meeting her birth mother was like.
