6 Tips to Foster Birth Family Relationships in Foster Adoptions
Amanda Preston is an adoptive and foster mama of 8 from a suburb of Vancouver, BC. She is also a social worker and founder of a Canadian nonprofit organization that helps find homes for kids, especially for children with special needs and older tweens/teens […]
In these situations, do not waver in your attempts to find biological connections. It is important to think outside the box and get creative in finding other family members.
1. Don’t stop with birth parents. Meaningful contact can include any biological family members, as well as important and loving people in your child’s past. Some other options to pursue outside of the biological parents might include: siblings (including those adopted by others), aunts or uncles, cousins, teachers, grandparents, coaches, or old friends. We have been thankful in finding relationships with siblings adopted by other families, as well as with aunts and uncles of our children, who now all play prominent roles in their lives.
2. Be persistent. Don’t stop with a simple Google search. Look through adoption records for clues, and search Facebook, Instagram, and public records for family members with the scraps of information you have. We were able to locate multiple relatives through social media that we would otherwise never have known!
