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. 

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.

Young adult adoptee shares her adoption story with us on the blog. Emily is an amazing 19 year old who enjoys painting and doing schoolwork during this strange season of COVID-19 and quarantine. She lives in Arizona with her family, including with her brother who is also adopted. Emily shares her perspective of what it is like being adopted in her family, and some encouragement for other adoptees and adoptive families.

When a family first considers adoption, it can be helpful to hear from adoptive families about their experiences to help them determine their best path for their adoption process. Today on our blog, a Purl mama shares her daughter’s adoption story; revealing how quick and unexpected the process can be. Click here to read more.

This is an update on the continued impact of COVID-19 on domestic adoptions. Many of you may have read my post in March on the impact of COVID-19, but I wanted to update that, particularly as we enter a new wave of cases in some states. What has been most interesting for us at Purl though, has been the significant increase in the numbers of potential prospective adoptive parents contacting us, which seems to have resulted in part due to families being home, potentially with more time to start the adoption process. That, coupled with these factors below, are making for an interesting domestic adoption environment for prospective adoptive families (a few positives, but overall generally negative). Click here to learn more.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and I felt I just needed to be blunt. I often get calls from families that are hoping to adopt due to infertility or other obstacles creating their family naturally, but without a lot of understanding and knowledge about adoption, and the impact of it on all members of the adoption triad. So because of this, I just want to tell you that ADOPTION IS NOT FOR EVERYONE! Make sure you do your homework before you begin, and definitely before you bring your child home. It is okay if you research adoption and decide it isn’t for you. In my opinion, there isn’t enough education and preparation that happens in the typical home study process, and you need to do the work as prospective adoptive parents to make sure this is the route you want to take to grow your family. Click here to learn more.

When families decide to take the leap with a domestic infant adoption, one of the most vulnerable moments as a prospective adoptive parent is waiting for the child’s birth parent to sign the consents to the adoption, otherwise known as relinquishments, typically done a few days after the birth of the child. Many parents considering an adoption plan for their child feel that confirmation to continue with the adoption plan postpartum, while others do decide to parent their child, leading to what is commonly called a “disrupted adoption”. “Michelle,” her husband and her two older children walked through a disrupted adoption and are now on the other side. She shares their story, in the hopes that others walking through the similar pains of a disrupted adoption would find comfort, as well as to share how her older children processed the complicated nature of adoption loss.

When a family first considers adoption, it can be helpful to hear from adoptive families about their experiences to help them determine their best path for their journey. Today on our blog, we are sharing a Q & A with “S”, an adoptive momma who chose Purl to advise her and her husband during their adoption journey and helped them as they adopted their son. This Purl Mama shares her experience adopting with Purl’s guidance and advisement in their adoption, and shares other advice she has for families hoping to add to their family through domestic infant adoption. To learn more, click here.

Former Purl family, blog contributor and mental health therapist, Ashley, discusses the benefits of sharing multicultural books with young readers as a valuable tool to introduce concepts and ideas that open doors for discussion in our families. Ashley also includes some suggested books to read with your children.

There is rarely something more anticipated than watching your child respond to their newest little brother or sister. Will they be excited? Will they struggle to communicate feelings of sadness or jealousy? Surely every child responds to becoming an older sibling a little differently: and there are various seasons of adjustment for the child. At first the child may be wary of the new baby, feeling anxious when the baby cries or has constant needs that overlap the older child’s time with mom and dad. With time, consistency and with the younger child’s development, the older sibling’s feelings can decrease in their intensity and when the baby finally offers a first smile at him or her, many of us watch our older children fall in love. Inversely, the older child may be positively charmed at first sight, but with weeks that ware on, reality hits him and halts the lovey-dovey exchanges. Regardless of how those first few months go, there is nothing like siblings developing a life-long bond, no matter how our children come to us. Depending on our children’s ages when they become big brothers or sisters, there are many things parents can do to help with the transition. No matter the child’s age, devoting time and conversations with our children to help them prepare for a new sibling is vital. Click here to read more about preparing your child for a new addition, even if it comes through the more complicated process of adoption.

When a family first considers adoption, it can be helpful to hear from adoptive families about their experiences to help them determine their best path for their journey. Today on our blog, we are sharing a Q & A with “E.C.”, an adoptive momma who chose Purl to advise her and her husband during their adoption journey and helped them as they adopted their daughter. This Purl Mama shares her experience adopting with Purl’s guidance and advisement in their adoption, and shares other advice she has for families hoping to add to their family through domestic infant adoption. To learn more, click here.

An adoptive mom shares her reflection on her daughter’s first birthday and her heart for her daughter’s first mother.

After an adoption, the frequency of communication or openness in your child’s adoption could allow for an increased desire to share videos, pictures and/or your child’s milestones with your child’s birth family. Perhaps you and the birth family have decided not to share phone numbers or email addresses for privacy purposes or other reasons. It can be beneficial to use specific applications or websites for individuals like your child’s birth mother to utilize during a time she chooses, rather than receive a text message during a time she feels unable to emotionally process. Notifications or reminders of the adoption may not be preferred as a text message or email so that is why these other avenues can be resourceful, as they are utilized during times the individual chooses to use the application or visit the network. There are many communication methods that can positively include birth family in your child’s life as he or she grows up; as well as even nurture the relationship between you and your child’s birth parent(s). Here are some recommended applications and a brief description of their services for how they could serve post-adoption communication.

During Infertility Awareness Month, we share a biological, foster and adoptive mother's struggles with secondary infertility and ultimately domestic infant adoption. Please click here to read more.

Open adoption and what that means can be a confusing and misunderstood subject. Today an adoptive mom, former Purl client and therapist shares her own thoughts on what open adoption isn’t, in order to address some of the misconceptions on the subject. To learn more, click here.

The COVID-19 pandemic is wrecking havoc on all aspects of life in the United States and abroad. Things are changing rapidly, but I thought I’d give you an update as to its current impact on prospective adoptive parents’ domestic adoption journey. I have consulted with many of the professionals I work with closely and this update includes feedback from professionals across the country. If circumstances change dramatically, I will provide further updates. I also recommend that prospective adoptive families contact the specific professionals they are working with in their state (or an expectant mother’s state) to get specific updates on their circumstances. But please consider that everyone is being pulled in many different ways during this crisis, so everyone involved in the adoption community may be slower to respond. Please try and be patient and kind to all during this crisis.

At Purl Adoption Advisory, we want all members of the adoption triad to feel cared for, honored and valued. While we exclusively help prospective adoptive families, we believe that all adoptive families should learn from the perspectives of adoptees and birth families. Today, a courageous woman shares on the blog today about placing her child with her adoptive family and answers some important questions regarding her experience.

A foster parent shares her experience of fostering to adopt her son. This journey and route of growing our families differs greatly from private infant adoption, and yet yields similar results: a child cherished, gained and celebrated.