Think you know about adoption? Think again.
First person stories present the reality of adoption in 2025, warts and all. The highs, the lows, the tears of sadness and the tears of joy.
To find out what adopters and their children experience daily, without the rose tinted spectacles, subscribe and follow.
And we'd love to hear from you.
Drop us a line at adopters.anonymous@gmail.com
We offer no judgement and 100% support.
How well do your children sleep? And how well do you sleep?
If you have adopted children, I doubt very much that they got the required 10-12 hours children need to prepare them for the day ahead. And if the children aren't asleep, then usually neither are we.
In this episode of Adopters Anonymous, Carl and Martin share experiences of helping their children to get the sleep they need. It's complex routine that involves musical beds, painful backs, cricks in necks, bruises on arms, medication and frustration.
A 2017 UK study of children adopted from care found 50–60% of adoptive parents reported sleep problems, compared to about 20–25% in the general population.
So what does that look like, or rather what does that feel like? Plus, why is sleep so challenging in adopted children? Here's a clue: deep seated trauma.
Carl and Martin unpack how neglect, abuse and disruption can leave children fearful of what should be the loveliest time of the day: bed time.
Follow us on Facebook by searching for Adopters Anonymous, or drop us an email: adopters.anonymous@gmail.com
We'd love to hear from you.
12 Sept 2025
AA: Every now and then we need to let it all out
Adoption is no easy ride. And sometimes the relentless cycle of caring for a small person and very little respite can really wear you down.
The summer holidays are long and the challenge to fill the days with memory making activities seems endless and so what happens when you hit a bit of a wall?
That's how Carl felt this August. A simple video message to Martin rang an alarm bell and three days later Carl found himself in the podcast producer's comfy chair, sharing his woes.
We all feel like this sometimes. What we want to share is the need to find people to talk to, and keep talking.
We want to hear from you, so follow us on Facebook and email us at adopters.anonymous@gmail.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
22 Aug 2025
AA: The Endless Summer
The Summer Holidays. Three little words that fill kids with joy and some parents with dread.
So how does the summer break affect adopted children? Is it any different to those who aren't?
There are statistics and theories that suggest a change in routine has an impact, as our children much prefer like to experience familiar activities and locations, which is pretty much what you'd expect from someone who has had a disrupted early life.
But challenges are similar to all children. How do you keep them from spending their entire days glued to one sort of screen or another?
What's that old phrase? Keep calm and carry on? Yeah, good luck with that one.
We'd love to hear from you, so please drop us a line. We're adopters.anonymous@gmail.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
18 Jul 2025
AA: Eyes Wide Open?
It's important to go into the adoption process with your eyes wide open, but how much do we really know about the complexity of the children we become parents of?
This episode of Adopters Anonymous focusses on the medical conditions and diagnoses that accompany the children and what ramifications there maybe when parenting.
Adopted children nowadays have a selection of needs, many of which will be completely new to parents, some even baffling medical professions, but for our adopters, there's no going back, despite the fact 'they're only adopted, the process can be stopped' as ne medical professional told one of our adopters.
That is what we're up against as parents.
To contact the podcast, email adopters.anonymous@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
4 Jul 2025
AA: PACE
Trigger Warning: This episode contains an incident that some listeners may find disturbing.
Therapeutic parenting is a phrase that all adopters will know. It's a way of defusing situations with the aim of doing so without blowing your top, which is sometimes a default reaction to certain explosions.
But how useful is PACE? How easy is it to jump into action and remember the key ingredients? P for Playfulness, A for Acceptance, C for Curiosity and E for Empathy.
That's a lot to think about when you're in the heat of the moment, in the middle of a meltdown.
But recent events have changed the minds of the established non-believers, Martin and Carl. Chris recounts a moment that could have gone disastrously wrong had he not kept his head.
And we also discover why our adopters decided to adopt in the first place.
Remember you can contact us with your own experiences, totally confidentially and judgement free.
Drop us an email at adopters.anonymous@gmail.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
4 Jul 2025
Adopters Anonymous
Adopters Anonymous reveals the reality of life as an adopter.
Once you've jumped through all the official hoops and you have been approved as an adopter, your child or children arrive and they are officially yours. It's a time of sheer joy and excitement as you get to know each other, but it can also be a challenging time, that begins a life of emotional struggles, filled with love and tears.
Told mainly through the eyes of dads, Adopters Anonymous documents what it is really like to adopt. To many it is a lonely place. Relationships change, your support network, which is vital, can drop through the floor. Throughout the experience, to have your voice heard is crucial. But the voices you hear in Adopters Anonymous have been incredibly lucky. They have formed a group that are there for each other.
They listen, and support, without judgement. They offer advice and an ear when no-one else wants to listen, or cannot comprehend the reality.
Today we meet Carl, Cris and Martin. And they'd love to support you too if you feel lost on your ;'journey'.
They've been there, done that and wear the t-shirt.
So, get in touch: adopters.anonymous@gmail.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
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