ADOPTIVE FAMILIES: Inclusive Family Support Model

Does the concept of “open adoption” bring a tightening to your chest? Do you wonder if you’ll be up to all the complexity it brings? Are you tempted to wish for a simple and closed adoption? Or instead, are you seeking ways to help your child deal with the absence of birth parents? Did you wish for an open adoption but birth parents, for any number of reasons, are not available?

The Inclusive Family Support Model is a blueprint for adoptive families and practitioners working with them to maintain healthy relationships that support the adoptee. In our model, all adoptive families reside in one of four quadrants that we have named: inclusive, spirit of openness, mediated contact, and closed. Lori originally conceived of the Open Adoption Grid in which the horizontal (x) axis represents contact between the child and the birth/first parents/family, and the vertical (y) axis represents the adoptee’s knowledge about the adoption, as well as the willingness and ability for adoptive parents to enter into conversations with the adoptee about their adoptedness and about their birth parents.

Did you know that even if your child’s birth parents are not available to you, you can still have an open adoption?

We'll cover the difference between contact and openness and gain an understanding of the Inclusive Family Support Model and how it can help parents remain adoptee-centered. You’ll find out what really benefits adoptees, and what strengthens their relationships with their adoptive parents. And you’ll see why openness is the key to being the adoptive parent the adoptee needs you to be.

Join us to learn what open adoption is and isn’t -- and it may not be what you think!

Angela and Lori will also have their books available to purchase and they'll be glad to sign your copy!

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS:
Angela Tucker is a Black woman adopted from foster care to white parents. Her debut book: "YOU SHOULD BE GRATEFUL:" Stories of Race Identity, and Transracial Adoption has received wide acclaim. Angela is the Founder and Executive Director of the Adoptee Mentoring Society and is the subject of Closure, a documentary that chronicles her search for her biological parents. As a film producer, author and cultural commentator, Angela has appeared on CNN, Al Jazeera, The Red Table Talk, in The New Yorker and has contributed to renowned fictional work, including Broadway’s Jagged Little Pill and NBC’s hit show, This Is Us. Angela is married to Bryan Tucker, an Emmy-award winning filmmaker. They live in Seattle, Washington.

Lori Holden is an adoptive parent of two newly launched young adults. Since 2013, Lori has been educating adoptive parents and adoption professionals, encouraging us to parent with openness and intention. The premise of her first book, The Open-Hearted Way to Open Adoption, is that adoption creates a split between the child's biology and their biography – and openness is a way to foster integration and healing. Lori’s approach is to help families shift from an Either/Or mindset to a BothAnd heartset that comes from understanding adoptee experiences. Lori’s latest book is called Adoption Unfiltered, co-authored with an adoptee and a birth parent. She is also the host of the podcast Adoption: The Long View. Lori was named an Angel in Adoption® and honored by the Congressional Coalition for Adoption Institute. Lori and her family live in the Denver area.

Details on the entrance to use at the location will be sent to registered attendees. Please check your registration confirmation for further information.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Independence Institute, 727 East 16th Avenue, Denver, United States