A few years back, I told my partner that I wanted to be a dad. He wasn’t on board and didn’t think that he would ever want to go down that road. To my surprise, about five years later, he brought back up the conversation. He asked if I truly meant what I had said.
Young Couple Adopts Sooner Than Expected
Before they married, Ryan and Emily talked about becoming adoptive parents. After serving in Uganda as Peace Corps volunteers and returning to Minnesota in 2013, they attended an adoption information meeting at Children’s Home and LSS. “We realized the greatest need was for adoptive parents for older kids in foster care,” said Ryan. “We walked
Life Skills
Hope will be 18 in a few weeks and in 12 short weeks, she will be off to college. It’s all very exciting, and in some ways, I am a little surprised that she’s not pulling away from me a little. But, no. She’s not pulling away at all. In fact, my lovely daughter is
Missing Mothers: Journey to a Memoir
Five years ago, I took a writing class at The Loft that focused on writing about race. I had much to ponder about this subject because I have two internationally adopted children: a son adopted from South Korea at 4 months of age and a daughter adopted from Guatemala when she was 6 months old.
Photo Album: Recognizing Grief and Loss in Adoption
I remember the day when I first met my son at the adoption agency in Seoul, South Korea. I woke up that morning feeling a range of emotions from complete anticipation, to sheer happiness, to utter anxiety. I waited nearly a year to meet my son and now I was just hours away. As I
Transracial & Transcultural Adoption: Preservation, Policy, and a Personal Perspective
This article, written by Alexis Oberdorfer, MSW, Executive Director of CH/LSS, was originally published by National Council for Adoptable Children (NCFA) In 1948, white parents in Minnesota adopted a black child and were the first recorded transracial adoption in the United States. The following year, novelist and winner of the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes Pearl
Embracing and Teaching Advocacy as Parents of Children with Down Syndrome
As parents to three amazing kids, we’ve found many things to be constant over the years: going to music festivals, a yearly trip to Duluth, nightly walks (when the weather permits), spending time with family, enjoying the lake, and finding any educational activities that we can do to embrace the many cultures in our family.
A Whirlwind Adoption
A rush to finalize before a teen turns 18 On a cold Thursday in January, Jeff received the call that started a flurry of events to adopt his fourth son. He had been home study approved for about a year and a half and was specifically waiting for a teen who needed a family. “When
A Millennial’s Guide to Foster Care and Adoption
If someone would have told me 10 years ago that I’d be married to my high school sweetheart and have two kids at 25, I would have said, “You’re nuts.” But, that’s exactly what happened. I met my husband in the summer of 2008. We were 17 and just about to start our senior year
Five Years
It’s hard to believe that it has been five years since Hope moved in from her last foster home. In some ways it seems like it couldn’t possibly be that long; in other ways it feels like a lifetime ago. I’m about 15 lbs. heavier, and I have a LOT more gray hair than I
