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Finding Purpose in the Pain - One Adoptee's Journey from Heartbreak to Hope & Healing
An Adoptive Father's Lessons Learned About Attachment Disorder
Adopted and Fostered Adults of the African Diaspora
An Adoptive Father's Lessons Learned About Attachment Disorder
An Adoptive Father's Lessons Learned About Attachment Disorder
An Adoptive Father's Lessons Learned About Attachment Disorder
An Adoptive Father's Lessons Learned About Attachment Disorder
An Adoptive Father's Lessons Learned About Attachment Disorder
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An Adoptive Father's Lessons Learned About Attachment Disorder
An Adoptive Father's Lessons Learned About Attachment Disorder
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An Adoptive Father's Lessons Learned About Attachment Disorder
An Adoptive Father's Lessons Learned About Attachment Disorder
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Parenting and Attachment 
John, Bless you my friend! I am humbled beyond words at what you are doing! I keep you in my prayers!
So much of what I have read on your blog I can relate too.Thx you for letting me know I am not alone.You are honoring your daughter by helping others!
Thanks Debra for your kind words!
John,
You are a very good Dad…Casey was lucky to have a Dad like you. What she was going through would have challenged any parent…hopefully your book will help shed some light on the issues all of you dealt with and help other families similarly situated.
Jason Hutton
You gave me a tennis ball in my throat…
I started reading you today because of your lovely tribute to your daughter and to the whippet who typically brought a lot of love and solace to you. And,….
Because I believe the attachment connection is so vital.
Thank you for sharing your story.
Kate
Thanks Kate. I really appreciate your message!
John
There is an HBO documentary out now called LOVE MARILN about MARILN Monroe…her story so related to attachment theory. So sad!
I think I saw it but I’ll double check!
I am so sorry for your loss. I was one of the lucky ones. I learned about RAD before my husband and I adopted 8 years ago. In fact, just before. We were pursuing the adoption of a 9 year old boy from India when the agency asked that we learn more about older child adoptions. They also asked that we be honest about whether we could handle a child who may or may not have attachment issues. It broke our hearts to admit that we could not take the risk. We had an 11 year old son who would probably lose in that situation as the agency pointed out and we humbly withdrew our pursuit. The heartbreak we felt was pale in comparison to what we likely would have experienced had we continued on that adoption path. Within a few months we were on the path again and adopted a child from the same orphanage with fewer variables and risks for RAD but there were no promises. I may not know exactly what you went through but I have a better than average understanding of the road you and your wife (and Igor…we had a sheltie therapy dog) have travelled. I applaud you for what you are doing. You are a beautiful writer and the world needs to hear what you have to say. THANK YOU
Thanks Susan for your lovely message. In our case, attachment was never raised and perhaps never even known by those in our adoption chain (see my post today). To complicate matters further, Casey’s attachment-related behavior was very subtle, so she was “easily” mistaken for a misbehaving teen. Of course now in retrospect the professionals should’ve known better, but never acted.
Dear Susan,
I too adopted my daughter in 1997 from an agency in India and we were mot told about attachment disorder. My daughter was around six then. Had we been told we would have responded so much better to our child’s challenging behaviors. I thought within a country there would be some uniform practices regarding preparing a parent for adoptive parenting!
Usha
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I see the digital version of your book on Amazon.com. Congrats, John :). Any idea when it’ll be available in print? I don’t have an e-reader.
Actually look for announcement Mon. Meantime keeping on the dl for 48 hrs.
You’re getting published?? CONGRATULATIONS!!
Jason