Taylor Krigsman is the only biological child in her family of foster and adoptive children. Taylor's family started fostering when she was just three years old so she shares her unique perspective of having nineteen siblings over a period of eighteen years on her blog, Taylor Talks.
In an effort to introduce more people to foster care Taylor has done some interviews with foster parents on her blog. My interview with her is being featured on her blog today. You can check out the full interview HERE. The first couple of questions I answered had to do with demographics- where I'm from, how long I've been fostering, if I've adopted, etc. That info can basically be found in the About Me section of my blog.
The last four questions Taylor asked me were ones which I wish I had asked foster parents when I first started fostering. Here are those questions with my responses below:
Q: What were your biggest concerns as you started your foster care journey?
A: Without a doubt
the biggest concern about fostering that my husband and I both shared was the
pain of reunification and heartache of having to say goodbye to a child. I have learned that you have to put the
child’s needs above your own fears in that regard. Another foster mother who blogs, Angie, put
it beautifully when she said, “I am not afraid to grieve. I am afraid of what would happen to those
children if no one took the risk to love them.”
Q: What is the biggest lesson you learned from being a foster parent?
A: The biggest lesson
I continue to learn through fostering is not to judge our foster children’s bio
families. People generally do the best
they know how and many of the reasons for a child’s removal- addictions, abuse,
neglect, etc.- are so cyclical in nature.
If I had been raised in the same kind of environment that many of my
foster children’s parents came from then I would have many risk factors stacked
against me.
Q: Anything you
would change about your experience as a foster parent?
A: I wish that we would have taken a sibling group sooner. For many years we were cautious about
fostering more than one child at a time which prevented us from taking any
sibling groups. Although we’ve only
fostered two sibling groups so far I’ve found that there are advantages to
fostering siblings and perhaps the greatest advantage is that they are able to
help each other adjust to their new environment and not feel so “alone”.
Q: Words of wisdom
for future foster parents?
A: It can be very hard not to do at times, but try not to think
of your foster children’s bio parents as “the enemy”. Instead, remember that you are not just
helping a child but you are a resource for an entire family unit. In many cases, these families don’t have the
support many other families have (such as relatives or friends who are suitable
to step in and care for their children).
Even if you feel like you don’t have much in common with the parents of
your foster child, you can find unity in your shared love for their child.
No comments:
Post a Comment