Showing titles in Adoption & Fostering

In 1974, Liz Harvie – born Claire Elaine Watts – was given up for adoption by her birth mother Yvonne. Claire was just eight weeks old when her adoptive parents took her in – and renamed her Elizabeth. Although brought up in a ‘perfect’ household, the emotional – and physical – trauma of being taken from her biological mother would never leave Liz. She constantly wondered: what does my real mum look like? Will she come back for me? Why did she abandon me?

This is not a fairy tale - but it does have suspense, humor, a quest, and a happy ending. When Jason and Pam Ogden decided to adopt a baby, they had no idea that their adoption process would stretch over a period of two years and that their baby would be a toddler by the time they were able to bring him home. Taken straight from Pam’s personal travel journal, He Made Me Brave chronicles the long-awaited emotional trip she and her husband took to South Korea to meet their new son.

Life for Ariana is not a ribbon floating through time collecting happy memories; it is a rope she clings to that transforms into a noose when she becomes a foster child. Not every child born is given a stable home. Some face tragedy and are often severed from family ties.

Step into a world where the hidden resilience and unwavering spirit of foster children take center stage, embarking on a transformative journey like no other. Here, amidst the echoes of forgotten voices, a path of empowerment unfolds—one paved with the profound tool of affirmations that kindle self-worth and inner strength.

"Hearts Across Borders" is an inspiring and heartfelt story that delves into the life of a gay couple, Alex and his partner, who embark on a journey to adopt siblings from Cambodia.

The road to parenthood can be long and bumpy. Emaline Ashe's real-life memoir shares an intimate look into her emotional journey to become a mom. She and her husband Liam were a young and healthy couple when they started trying for a child. And then, unexplained infertility hit them like a ton of bricks. After many years of unsuccessful medical treatments, Emaline and Liam embarked on a alternate path to become parents. This led to an unexpected open adoption. As their newborn son grew, so did their relationship with their bonus family.

Join Ken and Brenda Barker as they begin their adoption journey in India to bring home twin infants. Travel with them to China, and to Latvia where they pioneered the adoption process, becoming the first American family to adopt from that country shortly after the cold war ended. Experience their agony and loss of innocence as they watch their oldest son battle childhood leukemia twice.

If you want to know how to be a better step parent, then check out this step-by-step guide. You will discover the effective tools and techniques on how to blend families together with less conflict and become a better step parent to the kids.

The story begins with her early years spent in El Salvador with her mother and grandmother, Rosa Eva and Mamita Ines. Anna was eight years old when she set out to immigrate to the US on foot; from that point on, she moved from one foster home to another. The struggles she faced, the people she met along the way, the relationships that came together and fell apart—they have shaped and transformed Anna into the woman she is today.

The true story of Michael Coll, an Irish child born in a mother/baby home in Stranorlar, County Donegal, Ireland, in 1944, and how his journey lead him to be eventually adopted by an Irish-American family. The audiobook also includes several sections that give a brief history of conditions in Ireland during the '40s, '50s and '60s, when unmarried pregnant women were considered outcasts by their own families, the Catholic Church and the Irish government.

Susan Ito is a struggling college student, a young adult on the cusp of parental independence, when she meets her birth mother for the first time. Instead of launching into adulthood, she finds herself entangled in longing for this new kind of mother love where she sees her own self, mirrored in mysterious and tantalizing ways. At the same time that she explores the genetic threads that bind her to this stranger, she works as the "mouse girl", caring for hundreds of experimental mice in a medical research laboratory.

Everybody knows what adoption is, but adoption has changed dramatically over recent decades. Open adoptions create an opportunity for biological parents to remain connected with the child even after the adoption takes place. Emotionally, this is still largely uncharted territory for everybody involved and relationships can be difficult to navigate. Told from the point of view of an adoptive father, the journey the Elkins took is such a roller coaster ride you would think this true story was fiction.

Everybody knows what adoption is, but adoption has changed dramatically over recent decades. Open adoptions create an opportunity for biological parents to remain connected with the child even after the adoption takes place. Emotionally, this is still largely uncharted territory for everybody involved and relationships can be difficult to navigate. Told from the point of view of an adoptive father, the journey the Elkins took is such a roller coaster ride you would think this true story was fiction.

Growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, Kari O’Driscoll was taught that strength and stoicism were one and the same. She was also taught that a girl’s job was to take care of everyone else. For decades, she believed these ideas, doing everything she could to try and keep the remaining parts of her family together, systematically anticipating disaster and fixing catastrophes one by one. Truth Has a Different Shape is one woman’s meditation on how societal and familial expectations of mothering influenced her sense of self and purpose, as well as her ideas about caretaking.

How would you react to that question if your grandmother asked you that question from her nursing home bed? That is the question that led me on a quest to find out if I really was adopted or if they were ramblings or confusion of my grandmother who thought I might be someone else. The quest led me on a journey to find out more about my family and what it really means and, in turn, learn more about myself and find who I really am.

Bestselling author and foster carer Casey Watson shares the shocking true story of Tyler, an abused eleven-year-old who, after stabbing his step-mother, had nowhere else to go. Knowing a little of Tyler's past - his biological mother, a heroin addict, died of an overdose when he was three - Casey feels bound to do her best for him. It isn't easy; Tyler continuously lashes out, even trying to attack Casey herself.

The goal of this audiobook is to give you immediate access to information relevant to current - or in-the-near-future situations involving your child. With the help of these experts, you will get a glimpse of the world through your teen's eyes as well as options for effectively managing the situations covered in this audiobook.

When Lisa Faulkner learned that she wouldn’t have biological children, her plans and expectations for her life were derailed. But, in the months and years that followed, she discovered that there was more than one way to build a family - and that there is a lot of joy to be found in life’s unexpected detours. In a raw and inspiring story of one woman’s journey through motherhood, family life and self-discovery, Lisa explores the many forms that family can take and discovers the power of embracing your plan B.

Foster families are unsung heroes, willing to stand on the front lines for children who can’t stand up for themselves. But fostering can also be a lonely journey as friends and family members pull away from the fear of the unknown. We all have a job to do, and it starts by stepping forward and wrapping around those who are sacrificing so much.

When life doesn't work out as planned, Katherine faces one decision after the next - all leading up to the most painful decision of her life. Will she keep her baby? River Children is the story of a birth mother's journey through the heartbreaking choices of her life to the place of redemption and healing. Follow Katherine as she encounters the twists and turns of life, the breakup of relationships, and the brokenness that results.