How many families her are raising a child that is not a bio child of the couple

[Tap]

I am just curious how many families have adopted (or have raised a child that is not a biological child of either parent) on this board vs those who have not.

 

 

I use the word adoption in a loose sense. It can be long term foster, guardianship etc. You know in your heart if you think this child is your permanent child and thus I would count that as 'adoption' for this poll.

Edited July 11, 2010 by Tap, tap, tap

[Rosie_0801]

Just our own. I would like to foster or adopt in the future, once my kiddies are past needing us to change their nappies before 6am :glare: and with a few promotions under our belt. To be honest, though, the stories on here have put me off. There'd be room in our lives for another kid or two to jump on our beds in the mornings, but RAD doesn't sound like a good housemate. The thread the other day about boys being so unwanted made us both very sad, but we can't imagine how there would be space for family time if everyone is battling with acronyms 24/7. Our house is built of sticks, not bricks, and would blow down.

 

Rosie

[SproutMamaK]

Not right now. We are seriously considering doing foster-to-adopt for a child (or children) with autism in the future, once ours are a bit older.

[shinyhappypeople]

We're raising our own kids... one was adopted, one was homegrown :)

[KrissiK]

We have no bio kids - 3 adopted kids and are hoping to adopt some more.

[Corraleno]

1 bio, 1 adopted

 

Jackie

[Kimberly in IN]

We are raising our own children, 2 adopted, 2 homegrown. We didn't do the wait until a homegrown was older before adopting. Ds was 3, adopted 8 month old dd from China, 2nd ds was born 4 months later. So yes, we had 3 dc, age 3 and under. Got caught up in the China slow down w/ #4, plus China surprised us w/ a much younger child than we had expected, requested. But, she is a perfect fit for our family. :D Life is good.

[Crissy]

I chose Other. Our older son is my biological son, but not my husband's. Even though Jeffrey's biological father has no contact with us (by court order), my husband did not adopt him. That would have required permission from the bio father, something to which I know he never would have agreed so we didn't bother asking.

Instead we went with a legal name change.

 

We have briefly discussed fostering when our boys are grown.

[BigMamaBird]

We are raising only bio children and have no plans to adopt. I've never felt a strong desire to adopt even before I had kids. Of course I'll never say never, but it's just not on our radar.

[Catherine]

I answered yes-but he is not a child, he's 20. But in all ways but chronologic, he is a child, IYKWIM.

[AnitaMcC]

We raised (state legal guardianship) my niece and two nephews for the past 12 yrs.

 

Older nephew is now 30, niece is almost 24, younger nephew is almost 21.

[Melissa in Australia]

Not at the moment. But we have been approved for fostering and are awaiting a placement. We have been told by the agency that we quite possibly may be getting 4 year old twin girls soon!!

 

we are hoping it all works out.

[Pamela H in Texas]

Biologically, dd is not dh's; but legally she is. Ds is biologically and legally dh's and mine.

 

We have fostered in the past and may do so again one day.

[Nestof3]

I married John when Aaron was eight. I began homeschooling him in the fourth grade and continued through graduation. He will be a junior at a local university in the fall. He then plans to be an officer in the Marines.

 

I see others in my situation chose other. I chose # 2. Though I didn't legally adopt him, he is in my heart mine.

[Carrie12345]

I married John when Aaron was eight. I began homeschooling him in the fourth grade and continued through graduation. He will be a junior at a local university in the fall. He then plans to be an officer in the Marines.

 

I see others in my situation chose other. I chose # 2. Though I didn't legally adopt him, he is in my heart mine.

 

I voted #2 after reading the qualifiers in the OP. ;)

Ds was 2 when dh and I got married. Dh had become an active part of his life when he was 18 months old. He is most certainly "ours" in that we are raising him together.

[Peela]

Your poll will be skewed because the thread subject will attract more of those who answer yes to the question. If you answer no...if you only have bio kids...you may not open the thread because it doesnt appear to apply to you.

Thats how I think, anyway :) But I opened the thread just in case because I am nosy.

 

I would have loved to adopt (its very hard to adopt in Australia) or foster, but dh has always been clear he is not interested.

[fhjmom]

When DH and I married, my DS was 2 1/2 and his DD was 12. Then we had two DD's together biologically. I never liked the "his, mine and ours" term so instead I say that DS came with me and DD came with him. DH and I both consider them all *ours*. DS's bio father is not in the picture and has no legal parental rights, so someday I do expect that DH will probably legally adopt him, but we have decided we want that to be DS's decision if/when it ever happens. Everyone who meets us tends to assume that DS is DH's biologically anyway; they look a lot alike.

 

We have also discussed in the future possibly adopting a deaf child. I would want our own to be a bit older than they are now and our financial situation would need to be much more stable, but I figure if it is in God's will, He will provide the means.

[Mom25girls]

We are raising our 5 daughters, 2 are bio and 3 were adopted from China. Since we were dating in college, Dh and I always dreamed of parenting both bio and adopted children. I had always dreamed of having 4 daughters (Little Women was my favorite book growing up) so I've been blessed even more than my dreams. Life is good.

[jujsky]

1 adopted, one surprise bio :001_smile:

[chaik76]

Only bio kids right now. We would absolutely be open to raising kids that are "ours" through other means...my grandparents raised me for part of my life, my mom was a house mother for several years...and those girls are 100% my sisters, I have a step-sister from one marriage, and two step-brothers from a different marriage...all "ex" but still my siblings! I have two half-siblings from my father's second marriage, and my mom also raised a little girl for a year or so until she could go to her grandparents (she still visits and is a "forever" part of our family...she's around 12 now). So I would definitely be open to a child coming our way.

 

(I didn't answer the poll...I don't have my glasses on and can't read the poll questions!!!)

[momof3sofar]

We are the parents to 2 homegown who are now adults and 4 years ago we adopted a little girl from China who was almost 2. I would love to go back to China to adopt one more but we no longer qualify so will have to let that dream go. Maybe if one of our homegrown kids ever leaves the nest permanently we'll consider fostering but for now the house is too small.

[In2why]

I answered other....because we have a mixture of all of the above and expect we aren't done yet.

 

But....and this is just my personal pet peeve....they *are* all our own. I love all my children, and before we adopted I would not have thought it was possible to love a child as much as a bio child. Yet I can guarantee you that it is true that you do, and except in these type of conversations I don't think of them in different catagories. :)

[In2why]

We're raising our own kids... one was adopted, one was homegrown :)

 

 

You said this with a lot more grace than I possess. :grouphug:

[nicurn]

We are raising our own kids..... 3 made in the USA and one made in China.

[BlsdMama]

We went through MAPP classes in California to adopt in 2002. We moved on and completed our homestudy and we were hoping for a sib group. When we told DHS we were expecting (Rebecca) our family was pulled from placement. It was very disappointing to say the least. We refused to re-apply in Iowa (2004-2010) and we've just now moved out of state again, although I don't foresee us reapplying at this point in time... not with five little ones in the last six years.

[Mom22ns]

We're only raising our own, but I checked other too. Ds's best friend from public school lived in a group home. He was considered "unplaceable" because of behavioral issues. We became a "visiting resource" which meant he spent every weekend and holidays with us for almost two years. Then in February his placement was moved 4 hours away and we haven't heard anything since. We've been heartbroken. We never planned to foster or adopt, God just put him in our lives and we loved him while he was here.

[smrtmama]

My husband adopted my son from my first marriage. :)

[haysmommy]

Our older 2 are bio and our youngest was adopted from Thailand.

[mom26]

We have been blessed with 4 biological children and 2 adopted children from Liberia, West Africa.

kathi

[lea1]

Our two sons are both from Russia and they both came home 3.5 years ago, when they were 14 and 15.5 months old.

[misidawnrn]

My 6yo DD is adopted but from a surrogacy with my sister as the surrogate, who used her own eggs and a friends sperm. My exH also adopted her so when I say she goes to her dad's it is my exH.

I was there from the first positive pregnancy test.

 

My 1yo DD is adopted from an open private adoption. We "matched" with the birthmom when she was 12 weeks pregnant so I went to all the doctors appointments/ U/S etc from 12 weeks on.

 

My 19yo is from birth. I was there from conception to birth:lol:

 

I honestly forget that my girls are adopted though:)