My Child's Birth Parent Contacted My Child - Weekend Wisdom
Creating a Family: Talk about Adoption, Foster & Kinship Care
11/08/25
•16m
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Question: My adoptive child was contacted by the birth mother, never contacted us, it has caused chaos in our family. The parents that adopt kids are never considered after raising a child for over 20 years to give them back.
Resources:
- Adoptive Mom Feels Left Out at Son’s Reunion with Birth Mother
- What You Need to Know about Open Adoption
- 5 Tips for Navigating Sticky Situations with Birth Parents
- Advice to My Pre-Adoptive Parent Self
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:
- Weekly podcasts
- Weekly articles/blog posts
- Resource pages on all aspects of family building
Previous Episode
Sleep Issues with Adopted, Foster, or Relative Children
November 5, 2025
•63m
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How do you handle sleep struggles when raising a child who has been impacted by trauma, prenatal substance exposure, or other challenges? Listen to our conversation with Dr. Chris Winter, a sleep researcher and neurologist who has practiced sleep medicine and neurology since 2004. He is also the author of The Rested Child: Why Your Tired, Wired or Irritable Child May Have A Sleep Disorder--And How To Help, and hosts the podcast Sleep Unplugged with Dr. Chris Winter.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Understanding the value of sleep and reframing the conversation about expectations and what your child needs to support overall health, development, and wellbeing.
- What makes adopted, foster, or kinship children particularly vulnerable to sleep challenges?
- How might a child’s early trauma and experiences of loss — such as separation from birth families or multiple moves — show up in their sleep patterns?
- What effects do frequent environmental changes have on a child’s sleep?
- How might prenatal exposure to substances (e.g., opioids, alcohol, others) impact a child’s sleep?
- What may be the challenges that children with neurodiversity (Down syndrome, ADHD, ASD etc) experience?
- What are the practical strategies you have found successful in helping families with sleep disturbances?
- Why is it important to teach our kids the value of rest—even without sleep?
- What should we consider when setting up a consistent routine and sleep-friendly setting for our kids?
- When is it time to seek professional evaluation—like a sleep study or specialist referral for our kids?
- What guidance do you offer caregivers to help them stay consistent, avoid burnout, and model healthy sleep habits?
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:
- Weekly podcasts
- Weekly articles/blog posts
- Resource pages on all aspects of family building
Next Episode
Navigating the Holidays With a Trauma-Sensitive Approach
November 12, 2025
•58m
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Why do our kids melt down, act out, or regress during the holiday season? Listen to our conversation with Dr. David Adams to learn what is going on and what you can do about it to make this holiday season more enjoyable for you all. He is an adoptive and foster dad, a licensed psychologist, and a licensed professional counselor. He is the Founding Director and President of New Life Psychology Group in Laguna Hills, California, and an expert trainer of Foster and Kinship Care Education (FKCE) at Saddleback College. He has also recently written and released the book, Trauma-Informed Foster and Adoptive Parenting: Methods for Managing Meltdowns, Mishaps, and Maladaptive Behaviors.
In this episode, we discuss:
- What are some of the reasons that holidays are hard for children who are adopted or are in foster care?
- What kind of behaviors do parents and caregivers commonly see that are likely related to those challenges around holidays?
- Sleep challenges
- Feeding challenges
- Increased anxiety, fear, insecurity
- Impulsivity
- Dysregulation (louder than usual, bigger emotional response than normal for this child)
- How do these behaviors relate to the reasons holidays are hard for our kids? What’s the connection between that outward behavior and the internal need or hurt?
- Can you provide us with a few practical strategies for addressing these behaviors? Let’s break them down by age:
- Toddler and preschoolers
- School-aged children
- Tweens and Teens (into young adults)
- What trauma-sensitive preparations or preventative actions can we take to minimize the challenging behaviors and help our kids feel safe, supported, and able to find healing?
- What is compassion fatigue? What signs should we look for to help us identify our risk during this holiday season?
- Strategies to help parents and caregivers plan now for a less-stressful holiday season.
Additional Resources:
- Set Your Family Up for Success This Holiday Season
- Tips for Managing Your Picky Eater
- Strategies to Manage Holiday Stress
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:
- Weekly podcasts
- Weekly articles/blog posts
- Resource pages on all aspects of family building
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