OA&FS Blog

"A Heart That Holds It All: A Story of Adoption" By Lauren Haas Review by Leah Lusk, OA&FS content specialist In the preface to her debut children’s book, adoptee and elementary school counselor Lauren Haas writes that she penned the book for other adoptees and dedicates it to her younger self, saying it was the story she needed. The book isn’t exactly a story, but rather a series of rhyming affirmations with one repeated underlying message for adoptees: Your feelings about adoption – all…

By Katie Raser, OA&FS counselor The second Sunday in May is quickly approaching and, for many, this is a day that can be full of complicated – and conflicting – emotions. For those who are part of the adoption constellation, as well as those who are hoping to parent through adoption, there can be extra layers of nuance. Mother’s Day can be a day of complicated, and invisible, grief. It can represent a want that remains unfulfilled or a question without a good answer. It can be a day of big…

By content specialist Leah Lusk and program manager Delphine Veith If you are living in an open adoption or exploring it as a possibility, it’s likely you’ll get some questions from the people around you. Although most adoptions now include some level of openness, the concept of open adoption continues to be strange to some people. Maybe you’re an adoptee who shares stories about your biological parents and adoptive parents, and this is sometimes confusing to your friends. Maybe you’re a…

On this blog, we will occasionally be sharing articles from the old version of the OA&FS newsletter Open Page (which we recently brought back!). These articles were published between 2004 and 2014. A lot about adoption and the way we talk about it has changed since then, and some enduring themes continue to resonate. Note that we will be sharing these articles as they were written at the time, even though some terms may have changed. We invite you to view these historic articles as an…

by Shari Levine, executive director Josh and Matt are natural stewards of open adoption; the core tenets of compassion and respect are reflected in their relationships. It’s a worldview that is deeply meaningful to them. When asked what inspired this philosophy, Josh said, “My own struggles with my family – we had a pretty significant falling out over the whole gay thing. I know what it feels like to be abandoned and lost and not able to get your head above water. Coming from my own trauma…

By Taylor, OA&FS birth mother The very first time I dialed the number for Open Adoption & Family Services, I was sitting on the steps outside the public library. I was 18 years old, six months pregnant and beyond scared. I had kept my pregnancy a secret from my family up until this point and now I had less than three months to make the biggest decision of my life. My first call with the agency is a little fuzzy in my mind. I had so much adrenaline, so many nerves that I don’t really remember…