It has been over twenty years since I set out to adopt a child.  One thing that hasn’t changed since then is the importance of creating your own adoption support network.  With the right support you will come through the adoption journey with your mental health intact and a vast ...

by Carolyn Berger, LCSW On August 23rd Rufus Wainwright will be marrying his partner of five years, Jorn Weisbrodt, out in Montauk, Long Island. I’ve always liked Rufus Wainwright’s music, but only became interested in his family building story after I saw him in concert in ...

By Carolyn Berger, LCSW  When my biological son, Zach, was born I remember looking at him and thinking how he didn’t look anything like I’d imagined.  With his dark wavy hair and olive skin he looked very different from the pink baby with just a touch of blond hair that I ...

by Carolyn Berger, L.C.S.W. Stories about couples readying themselves for their adoption home study are legion. Couples have been known to repaint their apartments, scrub between the bathroom tiles with an old toothbrush, and make sure there are cookies baking in the oven when the social ...

By Carolyn N. Berger, LCSW The first thing you notice when looking through the literature on birthfathers is how little there actually is.  When we think about the “adoption triangle,” those people who play pivotal roles in an adoption, we are generally talking about the child, ...

by Carolyn Berger, L.C.S.W.  Father’s Day is fast approaching and with it comes quick trips to the stationery store to find the perfect card for Dad.   This year I’ve been reading and thinking about the role of birth fathers a lot and have been heartened to find an ...

by Carolyn Berger, LCSW I’m a single mom and until recently I thought I had done a pretty good job of educating my two teenage sons, ages 18 and 21, about sex and sexual health. We never sat down for “big talks” about these subjects.  Rather, I tried to weave them into our ...

by Carolyn Berger, L.C.S.W.   New adoptive parents love nothing more than telling their adoption stories,” and people considering adopting never get tire of listening to them.  These stories generally begin with a description of the adoptive parents’ difficulties ...