Learn more about the adoption process.
Insecurity About “Mom” and Fears About Open Adoption
As Mother's Day approached, I (Katie - CEO/Founder of Purl) tried unsuccessfully to get this blog post up. Because Mother's Day is complicated for so many people, including those touched by adoption. I struggled to organize my thoughts about my own insecurity with my own motherhood through adoption and how that related to my fears of open adoption. While it has been relatively easy for me to share my other mistakes in my adoption journey, this was one area that was especially hard for me. Maybe it was due to embarrassment, but after the 10th draft, here are my still scrambled thoughts... The mistake I'm discussing today centered around my own insecurity about the role of "Mother", and how that impacted my adoption journey and even the early years of my child's open adoption. Click here to read more.
Naming An Adopted Child
One area I (Katie - CEO/Founder of Purl) went wrong as a prospective adoptive parent was my thoughts and process on naming an adopted child. My perspective at the time of our adoption journey was that this was going to be my child and I should get to name my child. The adoption professionals we worked with didn’t give me any education on this area, and instead said the name the expectant mother gave the child didn’t really matter because we could change the name after finalization. Click on this link to read more about how dramatically my opinion has changed about the right and privilege to name a child, as well as a discussion as to how the issuance of the birth certificate works in an adoption setting, and what impact that has on adoptees' ability to secure a copy of their birth certificate later on.
Centering Myself as A Parent Instead of My Child
Hi, Katie (CEO/Founder of Purl) here again, following up as promised about the things I did wrong in my own adoption journey to help other prospective adoptive parents. When we started the adoption process we were naïve, and definitely should ...
Things I Did Wrong, And You May Have Done Wrong Too…
Hi there! Happy Friday! This is Katie, CEO/Founder of Purl. As I have discussed before, I was pretty naïve as a brand new prospective adoptive family, and I had little education/preparation from the adoption professionals we worked with in our ...
Choice of Law Analysis in Interstate Domestic Adoption
Did you know that most interstate domestic adoptions include a choice of law analysis by an adoption attorney or attorneys to determine which state's law to apply to the adoption proceeding? An interstate domestic adoption means that a family is ...
Funding Your Adoption Using Adoption Grants
Did you know that there are a lot of organizations that are available to help fund your domestic infant adoption through adoption grants? As we have discussed before, domestic infant adoption costs are high, and have been increasing dramatically in ...
Why We Are NOT Adoption Consultants
Purl founder and CEO, Katie Zimmerman, shares why she intentionally does not call Purl Adoption Advisory an adoption consultant. She shares her own experiences with a well-known adoption consultant, how she formed Purl to do things differently than what was being done in the adoption community, and how the services Purl offers differ dramatically from what other adoption consultants offer.
Sharing the Adoption Story: Navigating Sensitivity and Consent
In today’s blog post, Adoption Advisor, Kelcie Grace, talks about the importance of NOT sharing your child’s adoption story. She urges adoptive parents to recognize that the entire adoption triad is involved in the adoption story and adoptive parents do ...
Why You Are Still Waiting: The Hard Truth About the Current State of Adoption and the Importance of Open Preferences
Adoption can be a long and difficult journey, but it's important to understand the current state of domestic infant adoption in the US. In this blog post, Adoption Advisor and mother of one child through adoption, Kelcie Grace, shares the ...
Racial Mirrors in Transracial Adoption
Aubrey is a Purl Adoption Advisor as well as a white adoptive mother to three wonderful Black children. Having spent endless hours reading articles from transracial adoptees and adoptive parents, psychology studies and opinions from a range of qualified people, she found that one quote seemed to sum it up: “love is not enough”. Your child may feel loved, while also feeling lost, insecure, and a lack self-worth. Providing racial mirrors for your transracially adopted child can build a bridge to their racial identity. In this post, Aubrey discusses what racial mirrors are, why they are so important, and where to start. Click here to learn more.
New Years Resolution
As the New Year approaches, many people take the opportunity to reflect on the past year and set goals for the future. For some, this may include adding adoption to their resolution list. Adopting a child is a life-changing decision, ...
Dear Mom of a Child Through Adoption (Author Unknown)
I (Katie - Founder/CEO) have seen this circulate a hundred times since adopting, but for some reason it hit me harder today so I thought I would memorialize here on our page. For anyone who needs to hear this and ...
Holiday Gifts For Your Child’s Birth Family
This post is written by Purl Adoption Advisor, Aubrey Cortez, mom to three children through adoption. --- Sending a meaningful gift during the holidays to your child's birth family can show your love and gratitude for someone who means so much ...
Adult Adoptee Shares Her Raw Story
Today's blog post is written by a guest writer, Cathee Zimmerman Cooper, an adult adoptee from a closed adoption, who shares with us her experience as an adoptee and the advice she has for those who are parenting children through ...
Are You Prepared for The Actual Adoption?
If you’ve been following along this month, we are finally to the point where it gets really exciting, but also very nerve-wracking! You’ve been chosen as prospective adoptive parents for a child and you have to get prepared to possibly become a parent, likely in much less preparation time than you’d have if you were pregnant yourself. So, what do you need to know and become prepared for?! Click here to read more.
Being Chosen and Next Steps
You get chosen by an expectant family considering adoption for their child! Such amazing news and one of the major milestones in the domestic adoption journey. Many families have long waits and MANY presentations before they get to this point. But what is next? And what does being chosen really mean? Being chosen just means that you are one step closer to a child, and while it is a major milestone, that child may never actually be yours. Click here to read more about what happens after a match, and what NOT to do when you are chosen by an expectant parent whose baby isn’t expected for a bit.
Empathy and Care for Expectant Mothers
I’ve heard of a few circumstances lately where prospective adoptive parents act entitled to the child they have been chosen for, both before and after the birth of the child, but before consents are signed. This is one area I feel like prospective adoptive parents pursuing domestic infant adoption need the most education on - the respect and love that is required for any expectant mother they come into contact with in their adoption journey, and ultimately for the birth mother for their child.
To Fundraise or Not to Fundraise …
Today’s blog post is written by Purl Adoption Advisor, Kelcie Grace. She discusses the pros and cons of fundraising for your adoption journey -- Not everyone has tens of thousands of dollars sitting in a savings account, ready when they ...
Insecurity About “Mom” and Fears About Open Adoption
As Mother's Day approached, I (Katie - CEO/Founder of Purl) tried unsuccessfully to get this blog post up. Because Mother's Day is complicated for so many people, including those touched by adoption. I struggled to organize my thoughts about my own insecurity with my own motherhood through adoption and how that related to my fears of open adoption. While it has been relatively easy for me to share my other mistakes in my adoption journey, this was one area that was especially hard for me. Maybe it was due to embarrassment, but after the 10th draft, here are my still scrambled thoughts... The mistake I'm discussing today centered around my own insecurity about the role of "Mother", and how that impacted my adoption journey and even the early years of my child's open adoption. Click here to read more.
Naming An Adopted Child
One area I (Katie - CEO/Founder of Purl) went wrong as a prospective adoptive parent was my thoughts and process on naming an adopted child. My perspective at the time of our adoption journey was that this was going to be my child and I should get to name my child. The adoption professionals we worked with didn’t give me any education on this area, and instead said the name the expectant mother gave the child didn’t really matter because we could change the name after finalization. Click on this link to read more about how dramatically my opinion has changed about the right and privilege to name a child, as well as a discussion as to how the issuance of the birth certificate works in an adoption setting, and what impact that has on adoptees' ability to secure a copy of their birth certificate later on.
Centering Myself as A Parent Instead of My Child
Hi, Katie (CEO/Founder of Purl) here again, following up as promised about the things I did wrong in my own adoption journey to help other prospective adoptive parents. When we started the adoption process we were naïve, and definitely should ...
Things I Did Wrong, And You May Have Done Wrong Too…
Hi there! Happy Friday! This is Katie, CEO/Founder of Purl. As I have discussed before, I was pretty naïve as a brand new prospective adoptive family, and I had little education/preparation from the adoption professionals we worked with in our ...
Choice of Law Analysis in Interstate Domestic Adoption
Did you know that most interstate domestic adoptions include a choice of law analysis by an adoption attorney or attorneys to determine which state's law to apply to the adoption proceeding? An interstate domestic adoption means that a family is ...
Funding Your Adoption Using Adoption Grants
Did you know that there are a lot of organizations that are available to help fund your domestic infant adoption through adoption grants? As we have discussed before, domestic infant adoption costs are high, and have been increasing dramatically in ...
Why We Are NOT Adoption Consultants
Purl founder and CEO, Katie Zimmerman, shares why she intentionally does not call Purl Adoption Advisory an adoption consultant. She shares her own experiences with a well-known adoption consultant, how she formed Purl to do things differently than what was being done in the adoption community, and how the services Purl offers differ dramatically from what other adoption consultants offer.
Sharing the Adoption Story: Navigating Sensitivity and Consent
In today’s blog post, Adoption Advisor, Kelcie Grace, talks about the importance of NOT sharing your child’s adoption story. She urges adoptive parents to recognize that the entire adoption triad is involved in the adoption story and adoptive parents do ...
Why You Are Still Waiting: The Hard Truth About the Current State of Adoption and the Importance of Open Preferences
Adoption can be a long and difficult journey, but it's important to understand the current state of domestic infant adoption in the US. In this blog post, Adoption Advisor and mother of one child through adoption, Kelcie Grace, shares the ...
Racial Mirrors in Transracial Adoption
Aubrey is a Purl Adoption Advisor as well as a white adoptive mother to three wonderful Black children. Having spent endless hours reading articles from transracial adoptees and adoptive parents, psychology studies and opinions from a range of qualified people, she found that one quote seemed to sum it up: “love is not enough”. Your child may feel loved, while also feeling lost, insecure, and a lack self-worth. Providing racial mirrors for your transracially adopted child can build a bridge to their racial identity. In this post, Aubrey discusses what racial mirrors are, why they are so important, and where to start. Click here to learn more.
New Years Resolution
As the New Year approaches, many people take the opportunity to reflect on the past year and set goals for the future. For some, this may include adding adoption to their resolution list. Adopting a child is a life-changing decision, ...
Dear Mom of a Child Through Adoption (Author Unknown)
I (Katie - Founder/CEO) have seen this circulate a hundred times since adopting, but for some reason it hit me harder today so I thought I would memorialize here on our page. For anyone who needs to hear this and ...
Holiday Gifts For Your Child’s Birth Family
This post is written by Purl Adoption Advisor, Aubrey Cortez, mom to three children through adoption. --- Sending a meaningful gift during the holidays to your child's birth family can show your love and gratitude for someone who means so much ...
Adult Adoptee Shares Her Raw Story
Today's blog post is written by a guest writer, Cathee Zimmerman Cooper, an adult adoptee from a closed adoption, who shares with us her experience as an adoptee and the advice she has for those who are parenting children through ...
Are You Prepared for The Actual Adoption?
If you’ve been following along this month, we are finally to the point where it gets really exciting, but also very nerve-wracking! You’ve been chosen as prospective adoptive parents for a child and you have to get prepared to possibly become a parent, likely in much less preparation time than you’d have if you were pregnant yourself. So, what do you need to know and become prepared for?! Click here to read more.
Being Chosen and Next Steps
You get chosen by an expectant family considering adoption for their child! Such amazing news and one of the major milestones in the domestic adoption journey. Many families have long waits and MANY presentations before they get to this point. But what is next? And what does being chosen really mean? Being chosen just means that you are one step closer to a child, and while it is a major milestone, that child may never actually be yours. Click here to read more about what happens after a match, and what NOT to do when you are chosen by an expectant parent whose baby isn’t expected for a bit.
Empathy and Care for Expectant Mothers
I’ve heard of a few circumstances lately where prospective adoptive parents act entitled to the child they have been chosen for, both before and after the birth of the child, but before consents are signed. This is one area I feel like prospective adoptive parents pursuing domestic infant adoption need the most education on - the respect and love that is required for any expectant mother they come into contact with in their adoption journey, and ultimately for the birth mother for their child.
To Fundraise or Not to Fundraise …
Today’s blog post is written by Purl Adoption Advisor, Kelcie Grace. She discusses the pros and cons of fundraising for your adoption journey -- Not everyone has tens of thousands of dollars sitting in a savings account, ready when they ...