Creating A Family: Talk About Infertility, Adoption & Foster Care

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Are you considering donor egg or sperm? When should you consider these options? What choices do you have and what are some of the psychological hurdles you need to consider? We talk with Dr. Angela Leung, a reproductive endocrinologist at Reproductive Medicine Associates of New Jersey; and Dr. Poonam Sharma, a Licensed Psychologist specializing in reproductive issues.In this episode, we cover:Sperm Donation:What are the possibilities of getting pregnant when the male partner has an abnormal semen analysis? Does it depend on whether sperm count, motility, or morphology are abnormal?When should patients consider sperm donation from a medical standpoint?How and when should medical providers bring up the possibility of using donated sperm? Does it matter that the “patient” is usually the female partner?What are some of the psychological issues that may arise for the female partner using a sperm donor? What are some feelings the male partner commonl

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Transracial adoption affects all parts of the adoption triad. We will talk today with a transracial adoptee and his birth mom and adopted mom. We will include tips for adoptive parents raising transracially adopted or fostered child.In this episode, we cover:Adoptee’s experience with transracial adoption PreschoolElementary yearsMiddle and high school yearsCode switchingFeelingsIdentity formationCollegeAdulthoodReunion with birth familyBirth Father?Birth Mother’s experience with reunion and transracial adoptionHer role in identity formationHer feelings on reunionAdoptive Mother’s experience with transracial adoptionTips for adoptive and foster parentsAdditional Information:Kyle Bullock’s Instagram: kb_2090Short documentary based on story of Kyle and his birth family and adoptive family. “Finding identity: Growing up a transracial adoptee” This podcast is produced  by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to stre

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.We talk today with Dr. Gina Samuels about Trauma and Transracial Adoption. Dr. Samuels is an Associate Professor at the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration and In-Coming Director at the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture. She is an adult transracial adoptee. She has a newly published article in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect tilted “Epistemic trauma and transracial adoption.”In this episode, we cover:How do you define trauma? What is complex trauma?What is epistemic trauma and how does it differ from the trauma caused by abuse or neglect or witnessing violence? The article, “Epistemic trauma and transracial adoption”, asks how might the theory of epistemic injustice highlight conditions endemic to the experience of adoption, and specifically transracial adoption, that mark a distinct type of trauma? How does this apply to all adoption and how specifically to transracial adoption?The articl

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.We talk with Ryan Hanlon, with National Council for Adoption, about the largest survey of adoptive parents ever conducted. We talk about who adoptive parents are, the needs of the kids adopted, and so much more. In the episode, we cover:Who is adopting in the US? How are they similar and how do they differ from the general population of parents in relation to income and education level?What are the primary motivations for parents to adopt? Does it differ based on domestic infant adoption, international adoption, and foster care adoption?What type of special needs or diagnoses do adopted children have?How well are adoptive parents meeting these needs?How are adopted kids doing in school?What degree of openness or contact with birth families is common for infant adoption, intercountry adoption, and adoptions from foster care?How do adoptive parents view their relationship with birth families?How common are attachment issues in adoption and what f

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.How can epigenetic changes affect your fertility or the health of your child conceived by fertility treatment? We talk with 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 lead physician of RMA’s Marlton Clinic and Lab in South Jersey. He has authored and contributed to over 100 peer reviewed publications, published chapters and abstracts. He serves on the Editorial Board for Fertility and Sterility and the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.In this episode, we cover:What is epigenetics?What factors can influence or affect the epigenome?Can we “see” epigenetic changes?How do epigenetic factors impact our health?What are the genetic and epigenetic factors associated with female infertility?What are the genetic and epigenetic factors associated with female PCOS?What

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.We know our kids have experienced trauma, but how can we help them overcome this trauma to become healthy happy adults. We talk about resilience and overcoming an adverse beginning with Dr. Julian Ford and Dr. Amanda Zelechoski. Dr. Ford is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychiatry and Law at the University of Connecticut where he directs two Treatment and Services Adaptation Centers in the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Dr. Ford is past President of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and has published more than 250 articles and book chapters and is the author or editor of 10 books. Dr. Amanda Zelechoski is a licensed clinical and forensic psychologist specializing in trauma. She is a professor of psychology and Director of Clinical Training at Purdue University Northwest.In this episode, we cover:What are some of the different types of events/situations that can be traumatic to a child?Do different types

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.We talk with a panel of former foster youth about their stories and what helped them survive their trauma and succeed in life.In this episode, we cover:What were the two most important things in helping you heal and ultimately thrive after your years in foster care and early life trauma?Was their one or two people in your life who helped you overcome? What did they do to help?Why do you think you became a survivor when others in similar positions did not?If you are parents, how has your trauma from your early years impacted your parenting?While you are successful and are “survivors” do you still carry some of the baggage from your childhood?What advice would you give foster, adoptive, and kinship parents to be most helpful to the children in their care?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 supp

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.What do teachers know about adoption? What are the misperceptions? We talk with two researchers on this topic: Dr. Hal Grotevant, the Rudd Family Foundation Chair in Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Dr. Abbie Goldberg, a Professor of Psychology and current Director of Women’s & Gender Studies at Clark University.In this episode, we cover:How knowledgeable were teachers in understanding the impact of trauma?How knowledgeable were teachers in understanding the impact of attachment?How knowledgeable were teachers in understanding the impact of adoption?How knowledgeable were teacher sin understanding the impact of prenatal exposure?Was there a perception that adopted kids were “troubled”?What did they know about open adoption?How accepting were teachers to the idea of modifying assignments to reflect diverse families, including those formed by adoption?Do teachers know whether kids are adopted? Do they need to know? D

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.How can you help you child succeed at school?  We talk with Heather Forbes, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and the owner of the Beyond Consequences Institute. She specializes on the impact of trauma and is the author of Help for Billy and Classroom 180.In this episode, we cover:What are some of the specific issues that parents of foster and adopted kids need to consider when their children go back to school?Tips for helping kids transition into the new year.Is it better to address potentially sensitive issues up front before they happen, when they might not even happen, or wait to see if it comes up? For example, family tree assignments.What are some other potentially triggering school assignments for foster or adopted kids?How much of your child’s story should you share with your child’s teacher? How to balance the desire to keep your child’s history for them to decide who knows and sharing sensitive information with the teacher to help the

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.We talk with Dr. Julie Lamb about Endometriosis and Adenomyosis. Dr. Lamb is a board-certified reproductive endocrinologist practicing at Pacific Northwest Fertility in Seattle and Bellevue and serves as clinical faculty at the University of Washington.In this episode, we cover:EndometriosisWhat is endometriosis?What are the symptoms of endometriosis?What is the cause of endometriosis?Is there a genetic link to endometriosis?What factors increase your risk of developing endometriosis?Does having endometriosis make you at greater risk for cancer?How is endometriosis diagnosed?Is a definitive diagnosis necessary before treatment?How is endometriosis treated?When should laparoscopic surgery to remove the endometriosis lesions be considered for the treatment of endometriosis?When should hysterectomy be considered for treatment of endometriosis?What are endometriomas?What method is best for removing endometrial lesions: laser, electrical pulse, or o

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.How can white parents raise anti-racist children in this time of violence against people of color and protests. We talk with Dr. Ann Hazzard, a clinical child psychologist who was on the faculty at Emory University in Atlanta and co-author of Something Happened in Our Town:  A Child's Story about Racial Injustice; and Dr. Joy Harris, a Full-time Lecturer at Princeton Theological Seminary and co-author of The ABCs of Diversity: Helping Kids (and Ourselves!) Embrace Our Differences.In this episode, we cover:Embrace Race.org. Founded by black and mixed race parents to provide resources for raising black children.One Talk at a Time https://www.caminoslab.org/onetalk Providing support for Latinx American, Asian American, African American, and Black youth and their families to have conversations about race and ethnicity. They have a separate section for Black, Asian, and Latinx parents.What is the difference between not being a racist and being

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.One of the hardest parts of being a kinship caregiver is navigating the relationship with the child's birth parent. We talk with Dr. Joseph Crumbley, a social worker, family therapist and author of “An Overview of Kinship Care”.In this episode, we cover:Creating a Family listening sessions with kinship caregivers in rural counties.What are some of the complicating factors in the relationship between kinship caregivers and the child’s parents?Grandparents and other caregivers sometimes feel that the child’s parents will threaten them with taking the child away if they do something that the parent disapproves of.How to not enable the child’s parent but still have a relationship.How to set healthy boundaries for the caregiver’s and child’s best interest when you have years of experience not setting healthy boundaries?How to handle others in the family who interfere with the boundaries you’ve established?I don't know if this is a question

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.How can churches support kids in foster care and prevent children from entering foster care? Join us for our discussion with Jedd Medefind, President of the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) and Amber Knowles, the Executive Director of The Riverside Project (formerly Fostering Family).In this episode, we cover:We call it a foster care “crisis”. What does that term mean? What are the needs of foster children?What is each organization doing to help engage churches in caring for foster kids?What are ways people of faith can help improve the world of fostering if they know that they aren’t able to actually get licensed to foster?How can churches provide support for people once they are parenting kids from foster care—either through fostering or adoption?How can churches work to support birth families to help once the child has been reunified or to help stabilize them so that children don’t end up in care?How can faith communities get involved w

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Are you considering adopting a baby? On today's show we talk about the legal and medical risk factors you need to consider. We talk with Amy Wallas Fox about the legal risk factors in infant adoption. Ms. Fox is an attorney partner of Claiborne Fox Bradley Goldman, a North Carolina and Georgia law firm and a fellow in the American Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys. We talk with Dr. Lisa Prock, MD, MPH, about the medical risk factors in infant adoption. Dr. Prock is the Director of the Developmental Medicine Center and Associate Chief in the Division of Developmental Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.In this episode, we cover:How can a hopeful adoptive parent find a baby to adopt in the US?What is the difference between an adoption agency, adoption attorney, adoption facilitator, and adoption consultant?What is meant by an adoption-friendly state? Is there a state that is better tha

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.In this episode, we talk with Dr. Tia Jackson-Bey about Racial Disparities in Reproductive Medicine. Dr. Jackson-Bey is a Reproductive Endocrinologist with RMA of NY. She speaks frequently on reproductive justice and increasing access to fertility care and she is a member of the Americian Society for Reproductive Medicine Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Taskforce.In this episode, we cover:What biological reproductive health conditions that can impact their fertility are Black women more prone to.Tubal or uterine abnormalitiesPCOSFibroidsRacial Disparities in Infertility TreatmentAfrican American women are more likely than white women to experience infertility and wait longer to seek care.Women of color are less likely to access fertility treatment.Racial Disparities in Other Reproductive Health IssuesContraceptive usePap testsMammogramsMaternal mortalityPreterm birthLow birth weightUptake of human papillomavirus vaccinationWhat are some of the

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.What is the future for parent support groups and are online support groups here to stay? How can we make them better? We talk with Dr. Jay Miller, Dean and Dorothy Miller Research Professor at the College of Social Work, University of Kentucky. He is a former foster youth and is now a prolific researcher in what works to support foster, adoptive, and kinship families.In this episode, we cover:The Virtual Interaction Pilot Program at the University of KentuckyHow to create a sense of community and relationship building with online parent support groups?How many is too many participants in online groups?What platform is best? Zoom? Microsoft Teams? Google Meet?What day of week and time of day is best for participation?Are there differences between urban vs. rural support groups?How to increase engagement in meetings? Do hybrid parent support groups work?What is the future for foster, adoptive, and kinship parent support groups?Do you see a differ

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Foster youth or children who have been in the foster care system make up over 80% of children being sexually exploited. What can you do to prevent this from happening to your child? We talk with Audrey Morrissey, Co-Executive Director of My Life My Choice, a survivor-led nonprofit fighting sexual exploitation of youth.In this episode, we cover:What are some of the different forms that sexual exploitation can take?What is included in sexual trafficking?Internet exploitation.How does grooming take place.Are foster children disproportionately represented in the sexually exploited population?Are children who have experienced trauma over represented?Seeking love and connection.Sexual exploit of boys?What can parents do to protect their children from sexual exploitation?What resources are available to parents and young people?This podcast is produced  by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Representative Marjorie Margolies had a busy career as a journalist, author, Congressional Representative, professor, and founder of Women’s Campaign International all while raising 11 kids by adoption, birth, sponsorship, and marriage. She is the author of a new memoir And How Are the Children.In this episode, we cover:How did each of your children join your family?How did you “blend” children that came to you in different ways, with different backgrounds, and different ages?What were the biggest challenges?Did some of your children struggled? How much do you think the way they came to your family impacted their struggles?What did you learn along the way? 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

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Have you conceived through donor conception or are you considering this? Join us for the fascinating dive into disclosing (or not) this information to your child. We will talk with Dr. Patricia E. Hershberger, Associate Professor at the College of Nursing and Affiliate Professor at the College of Medicine, Dept. of Obstetrics & Gynecology, at the University of Illinois in Chicago.In this episode, we cover:How common is donor conception in the US? In other countries?What percentage of parents in heterosexual couples tell their child of their donor conception?Is there a difference in the percentage of parents disclosing donor conception with children conceived by donor sperm, donor egg, or donor embryo?Is there a difference in the willingness to discuss surrogacy with children? What does the research show about how many parents that say they are going to tell actually do tell by age 5 or age 10 or age 15?Is there a difference of opinion in th

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.We talk with a panel of birth moms about their adoption experience. What is the adoption experience for birth mothers and what do they think of some of the controversies in adoption, such as pre-birth matching, adoptive parents at the hospital, adoptive mother breastfeeding, etc. In this episode, we cover:Tell us what your child’s adoption looks like.What are your ideas on:Options counseling being provided by adoption agencies—is there a conflict of interest.Pre-birth matchingSome have stated that an infant should go into temporary or foster care for a time (usually 1-2 months) between birth and placement as a revocation period. Fundraising for adoptionAdoptive parent breastfeeding.What did you look for in adoptive parents?There is a lot of talk in adoption world about subtle and not so subtle forms of coercion that could influence a mom’s decision to place. Hopeful adoptive parents attend doctor appointments.Adoptive parents being present at t