[esthercrawford]

I fostered for nearly 2 years, and ended up adopting my foster daughter who was just a few weeks shy of her 7th birthday. I had a 1 yr old bio son when she joined the family.

I’d say what worked best for me was doing the very hard and frustrating process of building trust between me and her birth mom & family. It was at times maddening but so worth it for her. Especially since the system itself is broken.

My son was actually a plus - she was able to bond with him first and I believe that enabled her to then trust and bond with us.

Now she’s 12 and is amazing. I feel like the luckiest mom in the world to be able to spend my life with her.