Synthesizing current literature with information obtained through interviews of adoptive, gay and lesbian, and multiracial families, this book is designed to help practitioners work with diverse families. An introduction explores the concept of a "normal family" and provides an overview of the book and a description of the interview…

Based on the view that every adopted child will have been exposed to psychological pain as a result of separation or other hurtful experiences, this book examines issues relating to adoption, attachment, and child development. The book offers guidance to adoptive and foster parents on helping their children through separation, loss, and trauma in…

This book examines the adoption process in Great Britain, recounting first-hand experiences to take the reader through each stage of the process from the adopter's point of view. The book also examines the success and failure of several types of adoption. The chapters are: (1) "You Want to Adopt"; (2) "First Meetings, First Months,…

Selections in this volume discuss the ways in which various "deviations" from traditional family styles affect childrearing practices and child development. Contributors attempt to illustrate the dynamic developmental processes that characterize parenting in nontraditional contexts. The collection contains the following chapters: (1)…

This book aims to provide a broad framework within which to think about adoption as a whole system, so that everyone involved will learn to feel some empathy for the other members of the adoption process. The book, written by a family and adoption therapist who was adopted as an infant, describes predictable developmental stages and challenges for…

Intended for adoptive parents and adoption practitioners and intermediaries, this book uses the metaphor of space exploration to provide practical strategies for meeting the adopted infant's needs and smoothing the transition. Chapter 1, "Mission: To Explore New Worlds," discusses adoptive and birth parent preparation, loss issues, and society's…

Parenting an adopted child is, for the most part, the same as parenting any other child, but is different in some unique and critical ways related to the child's separation from birth parents and genetic roots. Understanding how a child interprets, understands, and feels about adoption, and why, can help the parent guide the adopted child…

This book provides parents with some insight on how children come to understand sex and reproduction. Chapter 1 discusses some of the ways children think differently from adults and chapter 2 offers suggestions for talking with children about sex and birth and forming families. In chapters 3-8, children's explanations of the origins of babies are…

Based on concern about the lack of information on adopting toddlers, this book examines the special needs of adopted toddlers and their adoptive parents. Chapter 1, "Why Write a Book on Toddler Adoption?" details the lack of information on the difficulties of adopted toddlers in forming attachments and parents' child rearing…

Noting that adopted and foster children may have suffered early traumatic experiences, often expressed in emotional and behavioral problems that become increasingly problematic as the child approaches adolescence, this book presents strategies to help adoptive and foster parents deal with their youngsters' troubling behavior and to make them feel…