Claim OwnershipCreating a Family: Talk about Adoption, Foster & Kinship Care
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Are you thinking about adopting or fostering a child? Confused about all the options and wondering where to begin? Or are you an adoptive or foster parent or kinship caregiver trying to be the best parent possible to this precious child? This is the podcast for you! Every week, we interview leading experts for an hour, discussing the topics you care about in deciding whether to adopt/foster or how to be a better parent. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are the national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them. Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content: weekly podcasts, weekly articles, and resource pages on all aspects of family building at our website, CreatingaFamily.org. We also have an active presence on many social media platforms. Please like or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).
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Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Did you know that the current reigning Miss Kentucky is a foster alum? We spoke with Ariana Rodriguez about her life leading up to the pageant circuit, what motivates her, and how her foundation, The Lucky Ones, is changing foster care experiences for foster kids in Kentucky. In this episode, we talk about: You made history as the first Miss Kentucky to have been in foster care. Can you start from the beginning and give us the...
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: I recently listened to a podcast featuring an adoptee, a birth mother, and an adoptive parent, which was great. The adoptee talked about when it hit her that she was adopted and feeling like her birth mother threw her away. My sons are adopted through the foster care system. One is technically still a foster child. My oldest was removed from his birth mother immediately after being born and placed with us. My second ...
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Are you familiar with pathological demand avoidance? Do you need helpful strategies to raise a child with the challenging behaviors that characterize PDA? Listen in to this conversation with Dr. Cynthia Martin, a clinical psychologist, the former Senior Director of the Autism Center at the Child Mind Institute, and founder of CM Psychology in Manhattan, NY. In this episode, we discuss: What is Pathological Demand Avoidance?Wha...
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: How to talk to your child about their conception story when embryo donation/embryo adoption is involved in forming your family? Resources: Embryo Adoption (Resource Page)Suggested Books for Children Conceived Through Embryo DonationDisclosing Donor Conception to Our Kids (podcast)Support the show Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit...
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Talking about the difficult parts of our child's story, like abuse or prenatal substance exposure, can be overwhelming. Kelly Weidner, the co-founder and Executive Director of Haven Adoptions & Family Services in Ambler, PA. She has 28 years of experience in foster care, residential care, and adoption, which will help us navigate these challenging conversations with our kids. In this episode, we discuss: What kinds of issu...
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Having the right documentation, signed, dated, and completed, is crucial to maximizing the claim and avoiding delays or audits. But before we jump into the actual documents, let's start with the big changes to this year's adoption tax credit, because these are important details for families to know this year. Resources: Adoption Tax Credit Resource PageFinding a Tax Specialist to File Your Adoption Tax Credit ClaimAdoption Tax...
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Let us know about your adoption journey Did you finalize an adoption in 2025 or within the last several years? Are you eligible to claim the Adoption Tax Credit? Listen to this conversation about the 2025 Adoption Tax Credit. Our guests are Becky Wilmoth, an Enrolled Agent and Adoption Tax Credit Specialist with Bill’s Tax Service, and Josh Kroll, the Adoption Subsidy Resource Center coordinator at Families Rising. In this epi...
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: An aspect of adopting that we didn’t hear about was how your mental health is challenged throughout the process. It’s a roller coaster of emotions, and this isn’t discussed as often as organic issues such as drug or alcohol use. Resources: Creating a Family Online Support GroupAdoption Process & Important ConsiderationsSelf-Care for Parents and CaregiversSupport the show Please leave us a rating or review. T...
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Are you considering adoption this year but concerned about how to swing the cost? Join us for a practical conversation about managing the expenses of adoption with Ryan Hanlon, PhD, former president of the National Council for Adoption, an adoption advocacy organization dedicated to research, education, and policy in the service of all members of the adoption community. In this episode, we discuss: How much can hopeful adoptiv...
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: How do you deal with the emotions of not being able to adopt or foster because your husband doesn't share the desire? Resources: A Reluctant Spouse: When Only One Partner Wants to AdoptI Want to Adopt. My Partner Does Not.Creating a Family Online Support GroupSupport the show Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to ...
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Are you considering adoption to create your family this year? We’ve got answers to all (or most) of your questions. Join our discussion with Molly Berger, MSW, who has been with the Adoption Center of Illinois for 12 years as an adoption social worker. She counts it an honor to work with adoptive families and expectant parents. In this episode, we discuss: Part 1: Domestic Infant Private Adoption in the US What is the process?...
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: Hello, thank you sincerely for your podcast and the work you do. It has helped me feel less alone and allowed me to better navigate foster parenting and adopting from foster care. My husband and I have two amazing boys; they have the same bio mom, and two older siblings each in a different family. Our youngest is 5. We met when he was 3 months. Our oldest is 8. We met when he was 3. He was removed at birth, then...
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Join us to learn about family rituals—how to create and why they can help build strong families. Our guest will be Elizabeth Barbour, the author of a new book, Sacred Celebrations: Designing Rituals to Navigate Life’s Milestone Transitions. She’s also a reunited adoptee and an adoptive mom. In this episode, we discuss: Why are rituals important for families? Define the culture of family-this is who we areThis is what we d...
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: We have been matched with an expectant mom due in a couple of months. She is having twins. As we are preparing for the next steps, sleep training has come up frequently in newborn care books. What research is there on the cry-it-out method or other popular sleep training methods in relation to adopted children? We want to make sure they know their needs will be met and build a strong adoption bond, but we also want t...
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Are you looking for practical ways to build your child's resilience and sense of safety, and to strengthen your family's connectedness? Listen to this conversation with Ginger Healy, MSW, LCSW, director of programs for the Attachment & Trauma Network and host of the podcast “Regulated and Relational.” Ginger speaks across the nation on trauma-informed schools, therapeutic parenting, and community engagement. In this episod...
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: I would love to hear about family profiles for adopting older teens. Resources: Adopting a Child of a Different Race or CultureAdopting Older KidsEvaluating Risk Factors in Foster Care AdoptionSupport the show Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and ...
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. What is it like to be the only biological child in a large transracial adoptive family? Our guest, Elaine Duncan, shares her story of how transcultural adoption impacted her identity and resilience. She is a writer, speaker, and strategist whose work bridges storytelling, healing, and social change. She has a passion for improving outcomes for underserved young people and is currently working on a memoir of her life journey. I...
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: I have a friend whose 12-year-old adopted son (adopted at age 6) has been sexually abusing his younger siblings. She self-reported to CPS and law enforcement, but they have not done a formal removal yet, and their solutions involved bringing the child back home or kinship (not an option). The offending child is currently in a temporary behavioral hospital, and a Refusal to Assume Parental Responsibil...
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. We're thrilled to introduce you to our new Executive Director, Linda Fiore. Listen to today's conversation about her journey to Creating a Family and where we're heading in this next chapter under her leadership. In this episode, we discuss: What first brought you into the world of adoption, foster care, and kinship care?When you started out, what was your “why”?What values or goals drove your work in those earliest years?What...
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: Help for a youth dealing with being bullied because they are in foster care? Resources: 5 Steps to Effectively Advocate for a Child Who is Being BulliedAre Transracial Adoptees More Likely to Be Bullied?Helping Our Kids Cope with Bullies at SchoolStopBullying.govSupport the show Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to st...
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Nice job, Tracy. 💜
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great info
This podcast has such great high quality content - I wish the sound quality were better!