Adoption and Foster Care Expo

Carnegie Library

Today was amazing! You know what the best part was? I found out I have some biases where adoption is concerned, I didn't even realize it, but it came to light and I changed my mind.

I met several incredible single women who wanted to learn about adoption. I realized I never even considered a single person to be the parent of my daughter. I grew up with two parents, I wanted her to grow up with two parents. I wouldn't have hesitated to adopt to either of the women I had an opportunity to sit down and talk to. I had no idea I had a bias, I didn't even realize I felt that way, but now that I do, I can change it.

On my way!


It takes a village to raise a child and they both had amazing support from their families. Whichever child is chosen to be placed with them will never lack any amount of love.

The hard part is how to help them be noticed on the same level a couple would be. The answer would be to have the birth parent(s) meet her, but that in itself can be quite a hurdle.

To those who I got to meet today, thank you so much for listening to my story, but more than that.. thank you for sharing your experiences, your hopes and your fears with me. I shook each of your hands as you left but I really just wanted to embrace you as a friend in a huge hug and thank you for opening your hearts.

Seeing Karen (founder of Graceful Adoptions) and Mark (my phenomenal adoption attorney) today felt like seeing old friends.

I learned so much about foster care and that the children who need the most love will show it in the most unloving ways.

As I shared my own story I realized birth parents aren't really thought of during the process for most agencies and for most potential adoptive parents. I also learned adoptive parents share a lot of the same fears.

The Adoption & Foster Care Expo in D.C. is free to the public and provided an exclusive one meet of adoption professionals as well as current adoptive and foster parents who shared their knowledge and personal stories.

Some of the topics included:

Adoption A-Z
There are many ways to adopt a child, and key steps in the process to foster parent also. Public and private agency experts in the field of domestic and international adoption present all the information you need to know about the adoption process from the home study, training, and placement process.

Exploring the Adoption Options: A Legal Overview
Adoption attorneys outlined the different types of adoption: international, independent, domestic, private agency and domestic public agency. The requirements and process associated with each type of adoption were explored.

Mentoring
Do you want to get involved but you're not in a place to be a foster parent or to adopt? Mentors provide invaluable support to children in foster care. Learning about how to positively impact a child's life through mentoring and hearing from mentors and mentees about the rewards of mentoring was something that was new to me.

Foster/Adopting the Older Child
Hearing from adoptive parents and young adults who were fostered and then adopted as teenagers...what their process was like. Foster parents shared their perspective about the process of loving and  letting go, and why they have chosen to serve their community in this unique way.

Preparing to Adoption: A Lifelong Journey

A basic understanding was given about the developmental stages of adoption. Learning about the cycle of grief and loss for children, what to expect after you bring your child home and when and how to obtain  post

Also, I meant every word, if you want to talk through your experience and have someone there to bounce ideas off of.. my door is always open to you.

My cell phone is 703-969-1525 and my email is Jacqueline.Leeker@gmail.com.

This is short and not as engaging as most of my posts but I'm happily exhausted from meeting so many amazing people!

I'll write more on this later, I just wanted to thank you for checking out the blog and please feel free to reach out to me with any questions.