Creating a Family: Talk about Adoption, Foster & Kinship Care

Latest Episodes:

Uterine Fibroids: Causes, Treatment, and Impact on Fertility Sep 01, 2021

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What do you need to know about uterine fibroids if you want to get pregnant? We talk with Dr. Desiree McCarthy-Keith, is the Medical Director of Shady Grove Fertility Atlanta and a Board Certified OB/GYN and Reproductive Endocrinologist. She also has a Master of Public Health in maternal and child health. She has been listed in Atlanta Magazine’s Top Doctors for Infertility from 2017-2021 and as one of Black Health Magazine’s Most Influential African American Doctors.
In this episode, we cover:

What are uterine fibroids?
What are the main symptoms of fibroids?
Who is most at risk for having fibroids?
Is there a genetic connection to uterine fibroids? Do fibroids pass through families?
Why do some fibroids grow very slowly and others rapidly? Is the speed the fibroid is growing something to worry about? How should women track this?
Are fibroids always a problem requiring treatment?
How to diagnoses fibroids.
Symptom distinction between endometriosis and fibroid?
What is the best way to medically treat uterine fibroids?
Are their alternative medicinal treatments that have been seen to be effective at treating uterine fibroids?
When is a hysterectomy the preferred treatment?
Skill of surgeon is important when using a surgical treatment. How can a patient determine the surgeon’s skill?
Can fibroids cause infertility?
Impact of fibroids on pregnancy?
What happens to fibroids during pregnancy? If a woman knows she has fibroids, what should she be aware of when she is pregnant?
Are their lifestyle factors that contribute to having fibroids or worsening fibroids once you have them?
Does diet affect fibroids?
Are women with fibroids at a higher risk for uterine cancer or reproductive tract cancers?
What other routine medical treatment should women with fibroids make sure they receive?
What can infertility nurses do to help patients with fibroid.
Other health issues associated with fibroids.
Are tampons safe to use? Do they cause or contribute to fibroids? Are the sponge and cup safe to use or better to use?
What happens to fibroids after menopause?

This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. Creating a Family brings you the following expert-based content:

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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 the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

Weekly podcasts
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Resource pages on all aspects of family building

How to Raise an Intense Child Aug 25, 2021

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Do you have a child that is more—more loud, more energetic, more argumentative, more everything? Intense children can be harder to raise, but their intensity is a gift as well as a parenting challenge. We talk with Howard Glasser, creator of the Nurtured Heart Approach to parenting. He is the author of Transforming the Difficult Child and Transforming the Intense Child Workbook.
In this episode, we cover:

What do you consider to be an intense child? My child was “more”—more loud, more energy—their reaction to most things was simply more. They go from 5 mph to 60mph in about a second.
What are the labels and diagnoses that intense children often accumulate? ADHD, ODD (Oppositional Defiance Disorder), conduct disorder, PTSD, anxiety disorder, depression.
What makes some kids more “intense” than others?
What do you mean by energy-challenged kids? Unable to handle or effectively control their physical, cognitive or emotional energy. They have a disorder of self-control. They have more energy than they have self-control.
Energy is a gift as well as a challenge.
You mention in Transforming the Difficult Child that many intense or difficult kids love video games—more so than the average child. I’ve noticed this too. Why?
Structure-while I think all children need structure, the high intensity child really needs structure. Positive forms of structure vs. negative forms of structure
Traditional parenting techniques did not work well for my intense little wonder. Your approach to raising an intense child is based on your Nurturing Heart Approach as outlined in your book, Transforming the Difficult Child and Transforming the Intense Child Workbook. What are the basic principles of this approach to parenting? The 3 strands.
Strand 1: Refuse to energize the negative. What are some of the challenges parents face when applying this? What are some common ways we might accidentally energize the negative?
Strand 2: Energize the positive. active recognition, experiential recognition, proactive recognition, creative recognition.
Is there a problem with too much praise?
Strand 3: Absolute clarity on limits and consequences. How to set limits?
Intensity is not something that a person outgrows.

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 the professionals who support them. Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

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How to Become a Foster Parent Aug 18, 2021

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Have you ever thought about becoming a foster parent but didn't know where to begin? This is the show for you! We talk with Vicki Ochoa, State Director for South Carolina MENTOR, an organization that provides an array of child and family services, on the ins and outs of becoming a foster parent.
In this episode, we cover:

Why should you become a foster parent?
What is the role of a foster parent?
What are the expectations of what a foster parent will do?
How to become a foster parent.
How do you get licensed to be a foster parent?
How much training is required?
What type of ongoing training is required?
Do you have to own your home?
How big does your house need to be?
How many kids can you have already in your home?
What agency can you work with to become licensed?
Who places the child with you?
What are the needs of kids in foster care?
How is the decision made as to which child or children should be placed in your home?
Can you specify the age, gender, # of kids, and degree of special need of the child you want to foster?
What type of help should the agency provide for you after the child is in your home?
If you have a choice, how do you choose a foster agency to work with?
How much voice do foster parents have on what happens to the child?
Do foster parents get paid?
Can you adopt your foster child?

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Raising Resilient Kids Aug 11, 2021

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How can we raise children who are resilient and able to bounce back from the ups and downs of life and move forward with optimism and confidence? In this episode, we talk with Dr. Ken Ginsburg, the Co-Founder and Director of Programs at the Center for Parent and Teen Communications, a Professor of Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and The University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, and author or “Building Resilience in Children and Teens” and “Raising Kids to Thrive”.
In this episode, we cover:

What is resilience and why is it important. Resilience is the ability to bounce back and the capacity to rise above difficult circumstances, allowing our children to exist in this less-than-perfect world, while moving forward with optimism and confidence.
What are the biggest challenges in creating resilience in children?
Raising resilient kids
We want our kids to be successful. What is Success- how does it relate to happiness?
The importance of imagining the person we want our child to be at 35. How to take the long view of parenting?
How to Foster Resilience in Children / What are the two fundamental principles of building resilience in our children? Young people will be resilient when the important adults in their lives believe in them unconditionally and hold them to high expectations.
Unconditional love is key to resilience. It gives children the deep-seated security that allows them to take chances when they need to adapt to new circumstances and the knowledge that in the long run all will be okay.
What do we mean by hold them to high expectations?
What are the 7 crucial ingredients to building resilience in our kids/raising resilient kids: strategies to build the seven crucial “Cs” — competence, confidence, connection, character, contribution, coping, and control.
How does trauma impact resilience?
Resources mentioned in this episode: https://parentandteen.com/category/for-teens/

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How Our Immune System Affects Fertility and Miscarriage Aug 04, 2021

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Can problems in our immune system cause infertility, miscarriage, or premature birth? Today we talk with Reproductive Endocrinologist Dr. Daniel Stein, Director of RMA of New York’s Westside office and Chief of Reproductive Endocrinology at Mount Sinai West Hospital, about the impact our immune system has on our fertility.
In this episode, we cover:

In what ways are our immune system and reproductive system linked?
Why does the woman’s immune system not react to the presence of a fetus?
Autoimmune diseases-how do they impact fertility and miscarriage or premature birth
What are the most common auto-immune diseases? (lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, Crohn’s Disease, Hashimoto's disease, celiac disease, endometriosis, premature ovarian insufficiency)
Are autoimmune mechanisms involved in infertility disorders such as premature ovarian failure or diminished ovarian reserves, endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), unexplained infertility, and repeatedly unsuccessful IVF attempts and may be responsible for the pathophysiology of preeclampsia or spontaneous abortions?
Endometriosis
Premature ovarian insufficiency
Impact of auto-immune diseases on pregnancy complications, miscarriage, and still births.
What is antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and do they impact fertility or miscarriage
Mucosal immunity of the female genital tract? Female immune system reacting to sperm.
What are anti-seminal/sperm antibodies in men and women?
Can a woman be allergic to sperm?
What role does our microbiome play in our immunity?
What role does our microbiome play in fertility?
What are natural killer cells?
Does infertility treatment, such as IVF, affect a woman’s immune system?

This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. Creating a Family brings you the following expert-based content:

· Weekly podcasts

· Weekly articles/blog posts

· Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Please leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

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Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Parenting a Child with Prenatal Exposure Jul 28, 2021

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What are the long-term impacts of prenatal alcohol and drug exposure and how can we parent these kids to help them thrive. In this episode, we talk with Dr. Mona Delahooke, a clinical child psychologist and the author of Beyond Behaviors: Using Brain Science and Compassion to Understand and Solve Children’s Behavioral Challenges.
In this episode, we cover:
Long term impact of prenatal alcohol and drug exposure: Research has found that most drugs that are commonly abused easily cross the placenta and can affect fetal brain development. In utero exposures to drugs and alcohol thus can have long-lasting implications for brain development resulting in behavioral challenges and mental and physical health implication. Some things to consider:

The amount of drugs and alcohol used by the mom and the timing in the pregnancy matter, although this is information that is seldom available to adoptive or foster parents.
Very often children are exposed to more than one substance in utero. For example, it is not uncommon for a pregnant woman who is drinking alcohol to also use drugs.
Untreated drug abuse/addiction often coincides with poor nutrition and prenatal care, which increases the risk further for pre-natal and post-natal trauma with potentially lifelong impacts.

It helps to begin with understanding how alcohol and drugs exposure in pregnancy can affect the child not just in infancy but throughout their life.

Alcohol
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs) is characterized with a broad range of deficits. Children with FASD may not have the facial dysmorphology and other physical abnormalities associated with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS).
FASDs currently represent the leading cause of mental retardation in North America.
Of all the substances of abuse (including cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines), alcohol produces by far the most serious neurobehavioral effects in the child and into adulthood.
Alcohol exposure can cause a host of cognitive and behavioral impairments, including:
- Low to average IQs (IQ can range from mental retardation to normal)
- Poor executive functioning skills
- Poor information processing skills
- Lack of social and communication skills
- Lack of appropriate initiative
- Discrepancy between their behavioral age and their chronological age (i.e., acting younger than they are)
- Difficulty with abstract concepts, such as time and money
- Poor judgment
- Failure to consider consequences of actions. Doesn’t learn from mistakes.
- Poor concentration and attention
- Social withdrawal
Other drugs: Methamphetamines, Amphetamines (speed and also some of the medications used to treat ADHD), 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)- street name Ecstasy, Opioids-(including heroin, fentanyl), Methadone or Suboxone, cocaine (including crack), and marijuana. While there are distinctions, after reviewing a lot of research it is fair to say that the following long-term impacts are often found.
In newborns: growth restriction, decreased weight, length, and head circumference, but these don’t necessary follow the child through life.
Executive function impairments. (Executive function is a set of mental processes for the management of cognitive operations that include attention, behavior, cognition, working memory, and information/problem solving.)
- Attention and impulse control issues.
- May include some learning difficulties.
- Increased child externalized behavioral problems.

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What’s It Like to Be In Foster Care: Former Foster Youth Speak Out Jul 21, 2021

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In this episode we talk with a panel of four former foster youth to find out what it is like to be raised in foster care and what they wish foster parents knew about the experience.
In this episode, we cover:

What was the experience of being removed from your home and taken from your parents?
Was there something that your foster parents could have done when you were first placed in the home to help alleviate some of the trauma?
Did you feel fully included in your foster family? What can foster parents do to help the child feel included?
This wasn’t relevant when you were in foster care, but what are your thoughts on blurring out the foster child or putting stickers over their face when posting pics on social media?
Relationships with the children of the foster family.
Who did you feel like was on your side? Who could you go to if you needed help?
Do you think enough was done to help your biological parents before you were removed?
Do you think enough was done to help your biological parents with reunification? Or do you think they were given too many chances?
Do you have pictures or keepsakes from the time you were in foster care? Would these have been or are they important to you now? What can the system do to make sure these are preserved?
While I’m sure you carry the scars of your early life trauma, you have all become successful and--at least from the outside looking in—emotionally healthy adults. What factors contributed to this?
Tips for foster parents.

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Handling Social Media Jul 14, 2021

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What issues do you need to think about when using social media as an adoptive or foster parent? What issues do you need to consider for your teens and tweens as they engage in social media? We talk with Katie Biron, Director Fostering Connections for Families and Program Manager of the Family Connections Program; Laura Jean Beauvais, licensed professional counselor with New Wind Counseling; and Dawn Friedman, a licensed professional clinical counselor with supervisory designation at Building Family Counseling about handling social media with adopted, foster, and kinship children.
In this episode, we include:
Some of the most popular social media platforms include:

Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
TikTok
Snapchat
Twitter
Pinterest
Reddit

Social Media pre-adoption

Keep in mind that states have varying laws on matching online and advertising for an expectant parent. You need to know what is allowed.
How much information can you or should you post after you have been matched with an expectant mom during her pregnancy?
How much info can you share post birth and after the baby comes home, but before the adoption is finalized?
Is it OK to “snoop” on expectant family and birth family online pre-adoption? You should know that the expectant family will also be checking you out online.
Should you friend the expectant mom and family pre-adoption?
How, when, and if to announce a child coming into your family through adoption.

Social Media as an Adoptive Parent

How much of your child’s adoption story should you share online?
How much should you share of your child’s birth parent’s online presence with a school aged child or younger?
Sharing photos online. How to handle differing opinions between adoptive and bio family on sharing pics. Common scenario is adoptive parent doesn’t share online pics and bio family does.
Friending biological or first family or accepting friend requests from biological family.
How to seek help online without divulging your child’s personal information or oversharing.
- Post anonymously either on your own or ask group admin.
- Ask general questions without personal details.
How to juggle the ups and downs of adoption groups on social media.

Social Media as a Foster Parent

Differing rules and expectations on social media use between foster child and foster parent will be discussed later in the interview.
Can a foster parent post a foster child’s picture online?
- Ask you caseworker
- Confidentiality is essential
- Use the Reasonable Prudent Parent Standard
Discussion in online forums. How open can you be?

Social Media with Adopted/Fostered Teens

What age do adolescents start having access to social media without adult supervision?
How to handle and navigate social media with the teens in foster care?
Benefits of social media for adopted and fostered adolescents.
- Maintaining social ties. Social media is how many youth connect with friends, both old and new. May be especially important for young people who have been moved from their communities and families.
- Support. Through either organized online groups for youth in similar situations or informally.
- Family connections. Youth may be able to with biological family members between family visits, where appropriate and approved by the caseworker.
- Self-expression. Social media is where many budding poets, artists, videographers hone their skills. It is also a place where young people shape their identity and can contribute to healing from childhood trauma.
Risks: While all youth may be at some risk for unsafe online s

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Preparing Kids Already in the Home for an Adoption Jul 07, 2021

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How can we prepare kids already in our home for the adoption of a sibling whether that new sibling is an infant or an older child. We will talk with Michelle Hoevker, a board-certified Clinical Social Work Supervisor and Program Director of Adoption and Foster Care at Presbyterian Children’s Homes and Services with more than 20 years experience in child welfare; and Adam Crawford, a Licensed Master Social Worker and the Program Director of Adoption and Foster Care at Presbyterian Children’s Homes and Services with more than 15 years of experience in child welfare.
In this episode, we cover:
Adopting an Infant

How to prepare children for the adoption of an infant?
How to answer question from others.
How to explain open adoption to kids already in the home?
What if the child already in the home is adopted but with a different degree of openness with their birth family?

Transracial Adoption

How to prepare children for the adoption of an infant when it is a transracial adoption where the child being adopted is not the same race or ethnicity as the children already in the family?

Adopting an Older Child Who is Not Your Foster Child (adopting from foster care or adopting internationally)

How much of your new child’s history should you share with the kids already in the family?
How to prepare kids in the family for potential behavioral challenges.
Prepare your kids in advance for changes to the family routine to accommodate the new child’s needs?
Creating a support network in advance.
Handling the transition period.
Different expectations and rules.
How much voice should children in the family have on whether to adopt?
Advice on parenting if you are disrupting birth order.
Advice on parenting if kids are in the same grade at school.

Adopting an Older Child Who is Your Foster Child

Role change from foster sibling to adoptive sibling (and foster parent to adoptive parent).
Expectations of transition period.

Resources:

Creating a Family has a great list of books for Preparing Kids for the Adoption of a Sibling
Suddenly Siblings website answers the question on every parent's mind: how will fostering or adoption affect my kids already in the home?

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Is Human Fertility Declining and What Can We Do About It Jun 30, 2021

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Is human fertility declining? What is the cause and what can we do about it. Our guest is Dr. Shanna Swan, an award-winning scientist based at Mount Sinai Medical Center and one of the world’s leading environmental and reproductive epidemiologists. She is the author of Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts, Altering Male and Female Reproductive Development, and Imperiling the Future of the Human Race.
In this episode, we cover:

Is sperm count in human males declining?
Is this decline seen worldwide or just in developed countries?
Is sperm count the only measure of sperm health that is declining? Are we seeing a change in sperm motility or morphology also?
Do we see a change in the average testosterone level in men worldwide?
Do we know what is causing the decline in sperm count?
Do we see a similar impact on women’s reproductive health? And if so, how do we know?
Could the decline in the fertility rate be, at least in part, the result of a general trend toward delayed childbearing, access to birth control, move from an agrarian society where large numbers of children were valued, etc.? Certainly, so in the western world but also so in developing countries where girls have the opportunity for education and employment.
Has there been a reduction in the age of puberty in girls in the US. Worldwide?
If we are comparing current sperm count of men on a country wide basis to past sperm count how do we know we are comparing apples to apples? Couldn’t differences in studies techniques and who they studied account for the difference?
Has there been an increase in gender fluidity?
Has there been an increase in disorders of sexual development?
Can exposures to environmental toxins impact human sexuality and gender identity?
Can exposures in utero or childhood or adulthood that can impact sexuality and gender identity?
What lifestyle factors negatively influence fertility?
What environmental exposures affect fertility for both men and women and how do we avoid exposure?

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 infertility patients and the professionals who support them. Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
· Weekly podcasts
· Weekly articles/blog posts
· Resource pages on all aspects of family building
Please leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

Support the show