Special Needs Adoption - Down Syndrome, Attachment...

TW: Suicide In 2014, a Portland-area psychologist was suspended after one of her young clients attempted suicide. The psychologist misdiagnosed the

Doug and Deanne Walker have 19 children, 10 of whom are adopted.  These loving parents have been up and down and all around adoption, and seem

I often wonder if my kids who were adopted feel–or will eventually feel–abandoned. Many books and professionals have led us to believe

As I sit to write, I’m frustrated. My nerves, as a parent, are worn to a fray and my eyes sting with tears. Parenting is unbelievably more diffic

(My daughter, Hayden, before she was adopted) One of our adopted children has a significant facial difference as a result of a genetic disorder. Wh

After a little more staring at the picture and thinking about her and playing the ‘what if’ game, it almost starts to feel normal. It’s at t

Lori and Craig Gertz adopted little Ellie, born with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Her parents didn’t know what was causing her rages a

Dear Struggling Mother, I know it can be hard when our fantasies about parenting a child clash with reality. There is so much I want to say to you

To see life-long damage done to a child in just a few minutes by someone who is supposed to love and protect is enough to make any feeling person a

On the one hand, no one wants to have a child end up in a family who is not prepared to care for their medical needs. On the other hand, how can a

Doug and Deanne Walker have 19 children, 10 of whom are adopted.  These loving parents have been up and down and all around adoption, and seem to

Since adopted 9-year-old Niko from Serbia five years ago, Nicole Desmarais has been torn between protecting her other children and keeping her son.

At that moment, she stopped and looked at me and my mom. She told me I was a beautiful, successful woman, and told my mom that she had done an amaz

A new route that we hadn’t really considered lay before us. And it was the right route. We realized that our plan never got off track; the sc

The precious time spent in a foster home may be the one thing in life that saves a child and makes a difference in their path.

I recently had a conversation with Mark Miller, Esq., an adoption attorney in Florida. Our conversation began after I saw, through social media, a

Chinese children who are albinos can expect pretty much nothing if they are not adopted into a loving home and given a chance.  If they remain in

Not a day goes by that I don’t think of a little one that we didn’t adopt. We never thought our first actual contact by an expectant mom would

Parenting is hard. Parenting children who have experienced early trauma is really hard. Most people mean well, but they are not walking in your sho

Two couples share their experience of adopting their children through Holt-Sunny Ridge Children’s Services, which facilitates special needs a