Includes index. Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:
Introduction -- Foster care -- Why do I want this job-- Service plans -- Who are these parents and children-- Foster home highs and lows -- The cycle of dysfunction -- Boy troubles -- Termination of parental rights -- Making my escape -- Agency adoption -- The home study process -- Adoption is the good thing that happens -- Adoption disruptions -- "Doing good" isn't always good -- The need for open adoption -- Finding just the right home -- Adoptive parenthood and sisterhood -- Children are exactly who they are meant to be -- How to talk about adoption -- A homeland tour : honoring your child's heritage -- A sister's journey of the heart -- Awkward (and worse) encounters for adoptive families -- Jocelyn's birth mother -- Adoption connections -- Our own adoption agency -- Birth parent counseling etiquette -- Two open adoptions -- Choosing an adoptive family -- Money matters -- Scammers -- Can foster care and adoption work together-- Changes -- A battle for gay adoption -- Baby brokers -- The ethics of international adoption -- The ethics of foster care -- Conclusion -- Acknowledgements.
Summary:
Foster care and adoption can be rewarding ways to become parents. But the system itself seems almost rigged for failure, confusion, fraud, and disappointment. This book takes readers on an insider's tour of the system, its successes and failures, and the joys adoption can bring through the real stories of those involved on all sides.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.