Growing Intentional Families Together, LLC

As National Adoption draws to a close, listen to adoptee Dr. Patrice Martin as she shares her perspective with adoption coaches Kim Noeth (a birth mother,) Sharon Butler-Obazee (an adoptee,) and Sally Ankerfelt (an adoptive mom.) Adoption is a lifelong experience, not an event so support systems must meet their needs accordingly. #AdopteeVoices #NAAM https://lnkd.in/ekARPYd7

Is adoption beneficial? How will we, how can we answer that question? While we might surmise how adoptees feel about adoption, our best guesses cannot begin to describe their experiences. We need them to use their voices and share their insights. For too long, adoptive parents and adoption professional have spoken on behalf of adoptees. They’ve told adoptees how they should feel, what they should think, and what they ought to say about adoption. Read more-- #NAAM?#NationalAdoptionMonth?#AdopteeVoice?#adoption?#Attunement Sally Ankerfelt Sharon Obazee Susan David Kim Noeth Gayle H. Swift Dr. Patrice Martin https://lnkd.in/e5GpJHYZ

November is National Adoption Awareness Month. This year's theme, "Honoring Youth; Strengthening Pathways for Lasting Bonds", highlights the importance of helping youth identify and nurture support systems and social connections that help young people as they transition to adulthood and through life. Join hosts Kim Noeth (a birth mother), Sharon Butler-Obazee (an adoptee) and Sally Ankerfelt (an adoptive parent) as they discuss the lasting and often negative impact of the child welfare system with Dr. Patrice Martin, strategic leader and adoptee rights activist. As always, hosts and guest, offer up a tri-spective view of adoption and its lasting impact on each triad member. Sally Ankerfelt Sharon Obazee Susan David Kim Noeth Gayle H. Swift https://lnkd.in/e3gV6pJ4 Adopting a child, Adoption, Adopt a child, Preparing to adopt a child, National Adoption Awareness Month, National Adoption Month, Adoption Attunement, Adoptive Families, Adoption Attuned Parenting, Adoption Complexity, Adoptee Voices, Adoptee Grief, Seven Core Issues of Adoption, Adoption Trauma, Adopting, Birth Mother Perspective, Adoption Triad, Adoption Conversation, Adoption Preparation, Adoption Constellation, Adoptee Support, Adoptee Needs, Adoptee Voice,

Today we remember a harsh reality--the tragic deaths of adoptees who have died by suicide or at the hands of adoptive parents.

Special guest, adoptee, adoptee activist, and author, Anne Heffron, joins co-hosts and adoption coaches, Kim Noeth (a birth mother), Sharon Butler-Obazee (an adoptee) and Sally Ankerfelt (an adoptive parent) for an engaging discussion of the "masks" we might be wearing as members of the adoption triad and within our adoptive families. How do the masks we don protect our feelings and the feelings of those around us? If we were brave enough to let the masks down, what would we gain, how would we feel, and how would we be different? Are we even brave enough to share what is behind the mask? Drawing on a tri-spective point of view and lived experience, explore the "unmasking." #AdoptionAttunement #Adoption #AdopteeVoices #BirthMotherVoices #UnmaskingAdoption #Unmasking https://lnkd.in/e_6WK97z

Do you ever consider the impact of how we mask ourselves? what is the impact of hiding behind a mask that we think might be safer or more appealing than simply being ourselves. Watch this great conversation that adoptee activist and author Anne Heffron shared with three of our coaches (Kim Noeth, a birth mother, Sharon Butler-Obazee, an adoptee, and Sally Ankerfelt, an adoptive parent. They take a Tri-spective look at "masking" within the adoption triad. what if we were brave enough to be authentic? What kind of connection and relation might we grow then? Their discussion was deep, genuine, and important. Watch it here: https://lnkd.in/eDdXhb3g Sally Ankerfelt Sharon Obazee Susan David Kim Noeth Gayle H. Swift #AdopteeVoice #BirthMotherVoice #AdoptionAttunement #AdoptionTalk

https://lnkd.in/eh_aMFGW https://lnkd.in/eG4V9gWT??33119607 Are you or your children experiencing stress due to the pressures at school? Listen as Kim Noeth, a birth mother, Sharon Obazee, an adoptee, and Sally Ankerfelt, an adoptive mother chat with Michelle Soggs a sixth-grade teacher. They discuss ways parents and teachers can work together to support adopted and foster youth in their classrooms. #AdoptionAtSchool #AdopteeVoices #BirthMotherVoices Susan David Gayle H. Swift https://lnkd.in/eh_aMFGW

Children’s biological systems begin adapting to their environments in their earliest days, even before birth. These “molecular memories” shape children’s immune and cardiovascular systems, among others, well into adulthood. When we improve the environments around young children and pregnant people, we are not only supporting a child’s development but also their lifelong health. #PlaceMatters To learn more, check out our working paper, “Place Matters: The Environment We Create Shapes the Foundations of Healthy Development” https://bit.ly/3ZtjEWK

School is open almost everywhere. How can parents help teachers to know and understand the needs of adopted children? What should parents share and what should they keep private? How can parents and teachers be proactive about triggers and traumaversaries? For intentional, Adoption Attuned parents this can require some finesse. We always want to be sensitive to the privacy boundaries of our children and to be clear about what it is appropriate to share with teachers and school staff. A good rule of thumb is to let them know that your child has experienced trauma without sharing the specific details of that trauma. https://lnkd.in/eQH4JNKp Sally Ankerfelt Sharon Obazee Susan David Kim Noeth Gayle H. Swift #AdoptionAttunement #AdoptionAtSchool #Traumaversaries #Triggers https://lnkd.in/eQH4JNKp

As Sally mentioned, Michelle mentioned the importance of the classroom library. For primary grades, we suggest "ABC, Adoption & Me" https://lnkd.in/e5E9y8yH