Living Open Adoption Fearlessly & Faithfully

When Kat started the adoption process: “I feared it would confuse my child. I feared that he would love his birth family more than me and not think of me as his mom. I feared that they would be too involved in our lives.”--Kat Monahan

“Initially you fear having the birth family in your lives. And then your heart expands and you can’t imagine your life without them.”--Kat Monahan

10 Years Later: “ I love open adoption.. I wouldn’t want to know what it's like to not know their birth families. I love them being able to connect with their birth families. I like them to know where they are from... Their birth families are family now to us.”-- Kat Monahan

In this episode, our host, Laci, and her good friend Kat, chat about how both of their opinions on open adoption have changed. Laci and Kat shared similar fears about open adoption when they started the adoption process. And ten years later they want to encourage other waiting adoptive parents with the benefits they get in their daily lives by being connected to birth families.

Here’s what you will hear:

• What waiting adoptive parents fear about open adoption.
• Where to find resources to educate yourself about open adoption.
• How to talk to family members and friends about open adoption.
• Tips to manage different birth parent relationships among adopted siblings.

Links We Talk About:

The Open-Hearted Way to Open Adoption: Helping Your Child Grow Up Whole by Lori Holden.

The Inclusive Family Support Model

Openness in Adoption From Secrecy and Stigma to Knowledge and Connections by Deborah H. Siegel, Ph.D. and Susan Livingston Smith, LCSW, Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute

About this Podcast

The Adoption Wait podcast was created for waiting adoptive parents looking for ways to feel less alone in their adoption journey. Join author and host Laci Richter (Refuel Your Wait: Find Hope and Overcome Fear While Adopting) as she chats with adoptive parents who have been through the wait. If you are waiting to adopt, these are the conversations that will offer practical advice and emotional support from those who get it.