How to Raise an Adopted Child : A Guide to Help Your Child Flourish from Infancy Through Adolescence

The Ultimate Resource Book for Adoptive Families
 
Adoption is an act of love. But it is successful only when parents are prepared to deal with the special needs and circumstances of the adopted child. Judith Schaffer and Christina Lindstrom, both psychotherapists, one an adoptive parent, use their extensive experience to create a comprehensive guide that anticipates practically every situation that adoptive parents can encounter. They provide compassionate, tested advice for parents before, during, and after the adoption. The book includes resources such as:

·         A unique age-correlated guide that highlights both physical and psychological developments from birth through adolescence;
·         Special advice for single adoptive parents, multiracial families, and children who have special needs;
·         Specific guidelines for how and when to tell children they are adopted;
·         Real help in handling the bigotry often expressed against children of interracial adoption;
·         Suggested responses to comments and unwelcome advice from strangers, neighbors, and family;
·         Answers to the questions parents most often ask at each stage of rearing an adopted child;
·         Ways to handle a child’s request to find their birth parents;
·         And more!

JUDITH SCHAFFER and CHRISTINA LINDSTROM are psychotherapists and family therapists, and were cofounders and co-directors of the Manhattan-based Center for Adoptive Families. They are both clinical members of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. Judith Schaffer is the mother of two adopted children and former Director of the Adoption Review Unit of the Human Services Administration, New York City.