Adopting Related Foster Children
Generally when children are swept into the foster care system, authorities place them with relatives – if suitable relatives are willing and able to take them in.
A recent USA Today article reports that relatives are increasingly going much further, adopting these children as well.
This, of course, benefits foster children, especially displaced siblings and older children who are more difficult to place with strangers.
The article also highlights the various emotional challenges unique to adopting a related child out of foster care. For example:
“an Iowa grandmother … says she felt pressure to adopt her grandson but didn’t want his mom becoming his sister.”
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