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

Latest Episodes:

How to Create a Compelling Adoptive Parent Profile Jul 25, 2019

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How to create a successful adoptive parent profile that will appeal to expectant moms making a decision on whether to place their baby for adoption? What to include and what to avoid? What type of pictures to include and how many? What do expectant women or couples want to see? Our guest expert is Madeleine Melcher, an adoptee, an adoptive mom, and the author of How to Create a Successful Adoption Portfolio: Easy Steps to Help You Produce the Best Adoption Profile and Prospective Birthparent Letter. She is the owner of Our Journey to You, a company dedicated to designing adoption portfolios and adoption profiles.

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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:

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Parenting Adopted Teens and Tweens Jul 19, 2019

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Parenting adopted teens can be fun and challenging. What are some tips and tricks for parenting adopted teens and tweens? Host Dawn Davenport, Executive Director of Creating a Family, the national adoption & foster care education and support nonprofit, interviews Katie Naftzger, LICSW, a psychotherapist that specializes in adoption and a transracial adoptee adopted from Korea.

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IVF Didn't Work-Should I Try Again? Jul 11, 2019

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If your 1st IVF cycle failed, should you try again? What are your odds of success with subsequent IVF cycles? Host Dawn Davenport, Executive Director of Creating a Family, the national infertility education and support nonprofit, interviews Dr. Philip Chenette, medical director at Pacific Fertility Center in San Francisco and past president of the Bay Area Reproductive Endocrine Society; and Dr. Mylene Yao, a reproductive endocrinologist, and co-founder of Univfy Inc., which has an online prediction tests for success of IVF.

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How Sexual Health is Impacted During Fertility Treatment Jul 05, 2019

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How does infertility and its treatment affect your sexual desire? What are the impacts of infertility and fertility treatment on sexual intimacy? Host Dawn Davenport, Executive Director of Creating a Family, the national infertility education and support nonprofit, interviews Dr. Jody Madeira, a professor at Indiana University-Bloomington, an expert on law and medicine and bioethics, a researcher on the impact of fertility treatment on sexual health, and the author of Taking Baby Steps: How Patients and Fertility Clinics Collaborate in Conception as well as Dr. Beth McAvey, a Board Certified Reproductive Endocrinologist at RMA of NY, and Debra Unger, a therapist for over 20 years that specializes in the treatment of couples with infertility.

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A Talk with Sesame Street about the New Foster Care Muppet Jun 27, 2019

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We talk with Kama Einhorn, one of the creators of Karli, the new Sesame Street Muppet who is in foster care, about how they decided on this storyline, how they created the muppet, cast the puppeteer, and what other resources are available on Sesame Street for foster children and foster parents.

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Practical Solutions to Typical Food Issues with Adopted and Foster Kids Jun 20, 2019

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Food issues are very common with adopted and foster children and are one of the most frequent concerns adoptive and foster parents have. We will address common food issues and provide practical suggestions for parents to implement to help their child. Host Dawn Davenport, Executive Director of Creating a Family, the national adoption & foster care education and support nonprofit, interviews Dr. Katja Rowell, The Feeding Doctor, and author of Helping Your Child with Extreme Picky Eating and Love Me, Feed Me as well as Kate Miller, Feeding and Disability Specialist at SPOON, an NGO focused on eradicating malnutrition for children who are isolated from their communities due to a disability and those living in orphanages and foster care.

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Fun & Simple Ways to Develop Attachment Jun 14, 2019

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We know that attachment is crucial for adopted and foster kids for their mental and physical health. What are some fun and simple ways to help you and your child attach? Host Dawn Davenport, Executive Director of Creating a Family, the national adoption & foster care education and support nonprofit, interviews Deborah Gray, adoption therapist, “attachment guru”, and author of Attaching through Love, Hugs, and Play: Simple Strategies to Help Build Connections with Your Child and Attaching in Adoption: Practical Tools for Today’s Parents.

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Infertility 101 for Husbands Jun 07, 2019

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So often we think infertility only affects the woman, but the men are affected as well. We simply don’t focus on how they are affected. Host Dawn Davenport, Executive Director of Creating a Family, the national infertility education and support nonprofit interviews Michael Barr, author of Swimming In Circles: A Baby Chase Odyssey, blogger, sports columnist, and dad to talk about infertility, male infertility, and how the wife’s infertility affects the husband. Who in a couple is typically the one who pushes a medical assessment or treatment for fertility issues?

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What Birth Moms Want Adoptive Parents to Know May 31, 2019

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A panel of birth mothers talking about adoption from their perspective and answering questions from adoptive parents. What is it like to place a child for adoption? What influenced their decision to choose one couple over another? What can adoptive parents do to make the hospital time post birth a little easier? What type of recognition on Mother’s Day feels best? And much more. Host Dawn Davenport, Executive Director of Creating a Family, the national foster care & adoption education and support nonprofit talks with a panel of four birth mothers about adoption.

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Influence of the Human Microbiome on Fertility May 24, 2019

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The human body is full of organisms that exist alongside and inside of us, including our reproductive tracts. How do these bacteria, viruses, and fungi affect conception and pregnancy? How does infertility treatment alter or mimic what exists in nature? Host Dawn Davenport, Executive Director of Creating a Family, the national infertility education and support nonprofit interviews Dr. Jason Franasiak, a board certified Obstetrician Gynecologist, board certified Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility specialist, board certified High Complexity Laboratory Director in Embryology and Andrology, and physician with RMA New Jersey.

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