IPF Blog
The Dreaded Family Tree Assignment in Adoption
The Dreaded Family Tree Assignment stirs anxiety in the hearts of many adoptive and foster families. We worry that our kids will feel different, or that they will feel pressured to overshare. And our hearts really break if our beautiful child does not have...
Explaining Sperm and Egg Donors to Children
For parents who use donors to conceive, an unexpected challenge of the process can be explaining the situation to the child. Here, experts offer tips and provide sample scripts for talking to kids about their donors. Four years ago, my partner and I were...
4 Signs Your Baby Is Going Through a Growth Spurt
Asking if a baby is having a growth spurt is like asking if a sloth is having a tired spell. It's kind of what they do. Babies grow much faster in their first year of life than at any other time except in utero. A typical school-aged child grows about 2...
Is Surrogacy the Right Choice for You?
There are two types of surrogacy — traditional surrogacy and gestational surrogacy. In traditional surrogacy, a surrogate mother is artificially inseminated, either by the intended father or an anonymous donor, and carries the baby to term. The child is...
Why Foster & Adopted Kids Create Fantasy Families
Most children fantasize about an alternate family when growing up or engage in magical thinking. It’s a normal part of development and coming to an understanding that parents are real people with strengths and weaknesses. In my fantasy family (FF) my dad...
Does Egg Donation affect Future Fertility?
Many people struggle with infertility or the inability to have children. This can be due to age, fertility, or genetics. A solution to this issue is Egg Donation. Egg Donation gives woman who can otherwise not have children of their own, the opportunity to...
Are You Expecting Too Much From Your Toddler?
Sometimes when my 3-year-old melts down, and just. Won't. Stop. Crying. And screaming, and making a spectacle, and rolling around on the floor, and repeating the same thing over, and over, and over again, like, "I want more chocolate!!!!"... I look at her...
How to Prepare your Home for a Surrogate Baby
Are you embarking on the journey through surrogacy to become a parent? Becoming a parent is an incredible milestone in life. Whether you choose to take the traditional route towards pregnancy or opt to use surrogacy, bringing home a newborn baby can be a...
What to Know About Having a Baby Via Egg Donation
Egg Donation: The Process Egg donation is a selfless choice that a woman who wants to help another deserving individual or family start a family of their own makes. There are several steps in the egg donation process for both the egg donor and the intended...
When Should We Tell Our Child That He Was Adopted?
Adoptive parents must determine what and when they will tell their children about their adoption. Many adoption workers advise parents to introduce the word "adoption" as early as possible so that it becomes a comfortable part of a child's vocabulary and...