Foster care and adoption can be rewarding ways to become parents. But the system itself seems almost rigged for failure, confusion, fraud, and disappointment. This book takes readers on an insider's tour of the system, its successes and failures, and the joys adoption can bring through the real stories of those involved on all sides.

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Part One: Foster Care 1. Why Do I Want This Job? 2. Service Plans 3. Who Are These Parents and Children? 4. Foster Home Highs and Lows 5. The Cycle of Dysfunction 6. Boy Troubles 7. Termination of Parental Rights 8. Making My Escape Part Two: Agency Adoption 9. The Home Study Process 10. Adoption Is the Good Thing That Happens 11. Adoption Disruptions 12. Doing Good Isn t Always Good 13. The Need for Open Adoption 14. Finding Just The Right Home Part Three: Adoptive Parenthood and Sisterhood 15. Children Are Exactly Who They Are Meant To Be 16. How to Talk About Adoption 17. A Homeland Tour: Honoring Your Child s Heritage 18. A Sister s Journey of the Heart 19. Awkward (and Worse) Encounters for Adoptive Families 20. Jocelyn s Birth Mother Part Four: Adoption Connections 21. Our Own Adoption Agency 22. Birth Parent Counseling Etiquette 23. Two Open Adoptions 24. Choosing an Adoptive Family 25. Money Matters 26. Scammers 27. Can Foster Care and Adoption Work Together? Part Five: Changes 28. A Battle for Gay Adoption 29. Baby Brokers 30. The Ethics of International Adoption 31. The Ethics of Foster Care