Question: I am concerned about how fostering will affect my birth children. Do you have any advice?
Fostering children will affect your birth children in real ways. There are real challenges that come with foster care and, as a mom, this was a real concern for me when we started our foster care journey. Stepping into something unfamiliar is hard enough when it is just you or you and a spouse but bringing your kids into the unknown is a harder decision. Here are two things that I learned.
- It will be a transition. Adding a child to your family usually causes growing pains. Adding a child that comes with case managers, a GAL, an agency, special services, and has gone through trauma adds another layer of dynamic to that shift. I always tell families the first 6 weeks are the hardest and to think of extra special creative ways to love on your birth children in this window of time. It does get easier. I remember the day our oldest transitioned from every day asking us to kick out our kiddo we were fostering to wanting him to stay forever.
- My kids are more compassionate, loving, selfless, and open-minded because we fostered. They think about people outside of our family in a different way and look at the needs of people around them. There are real sacrifices but, on the other hand, there are real rewards.
Take a look at other kids sharing about being a foster family here:
Thank you for your great question! If you have questions, send them to #youaskedfa or Kim@fosteraz.com
