Meeting #4 - Advocacy: Getting What Your Child Needs

The fourth meeting of the group took place May 19, 2009 and the theme of the evening was advocacy.

We spent a lot of time discussing the school system and how to access the supports and tools our children on a wide range of educational, behavioural, learning disability and social issues. We also shared stories of educating schools on the needs of adoptive children and those raised in LGBTQ families.

This also let to discussions on how to work with other parents and helping our kids to build strong peer networks.

Make sure to join us at our next meeting on June 16 where we'll have an open discussion to talk about whatever you want to explore.

Meeting #3 - Attachment and Why it Matters

The third meeting of the group took place April 21, 2009 and our theme of the evening was attachment.

After talking a little bit about attachment and why it matters, parents shared stories and ideas on how to build attachment with our kids. We talked about our frustrations and challenges, and the link between regression and attachment. We also shared our issues with one another and helped brainstorm possible solutions.

We also ate really yummy cookies.

Make sure to join us at our next meeting on May 19 where we'll talk about advocacy and ways to help you get what your kid needs.

Meeting #2 - Extended Family and Your Kids

The second meeting of the group took place March 24, 2009 and our theme of the evening was Extended Family and Your Kids.  

Current adoptive parents shared their stories on the first meetings they arranged between their parents and kids.  This included some helpful tips on how to prepare both your parents and your children.  In particular, since most of our extended families tend not to live in Ottawa we also addressed how this works when your family comes and stays with you.

We also delved into how much of our kids' history we shared with our immediate family, and why, and what the outcome of that was.  Who should know about your child's history?  What is need to know and what is nice to know?  How much or how little do you tell?  What are the differences we should consider between younger and older children?

This then led to discussions on helping your parents and extended family prepare for the needs of children who have been adopted and what to expect.

We spent some of our time together talking about our adoption processes as there are a few prospective LGBTQ adoptive parents in our group.

Make sure to join us at our next meeting on April 21 where we'll delve into attachment and why it matters. 

Meeting #1

The first meeting of the Post-Adoption Support Group for LGBTQ Parents took place on February 17 at the Overbook Community Centre. Apologies for any confusion around the location - all future correspondence will include an address along with a location name.

With six parents in attendance, we spent our evening sharing our experiences, getting to know one another and discussing what we'd like the group to be and what kind of supports we'd like to see in the community.

We all completed a survey and will shortly invite you to share with us your thoughts through an online survey. Survey results will be discussed at the next meeting.

Some of our initial brainstorming of things we'd like to see outside of the group include:

• A welcome wagon basket of resources to give to parents once they've been matched with their kids
• Setting up a mentorship program where new adoptive parents are matched with current adoptive parents
• Linking adoptive parents with the Children's Aid Society to help with outreach for prospective adoptive parents
• Working to build the queer cultural competency and sensitivity of adoption workers

If there's anything you'd like to see, feel free to share in the comments.

We hope our group will continue to grow and welcome you to join us at our next meeting.