Host Sandra Flach is a mom of 8 children, 5 through adoption—one kinship and 4 international. Her youngest 2 are teens diagnosed with a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). With over 30 years of parenting experience and 20 plus years as an adoptive and kinship parent, she’s made mountains of mistakes and learned loads of lessons. She understands the difficult road of parenting children with trauma histories—and she is still in the trenches! The Adoption & Foster Care Journey is a podcast to encourage, educate, and equip you to care for children in crisis through adoption, foster care, and kinship care. We aim to support adoptive and foster families by sharing encouraging real-life stories and equipping them with modern-day research and parenting techniques.
Episodes
Monday May 17, 2021
Monday May 17, 2021
“He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” 2 Corinthians 1:4
After many years struggling with infertility, Samantha Morgan and her husband adopted two beautiful children. Their son, Rush, is adopted from Russia and daughter, Hope, arrived through domestic infant adoption.
After sharing her testimony with her church family Samantha launched Rush to Hope Ministries. Her website and blog are a place where people sharing similar journeys can connect, cry, and find comfort.
This week on episode 273 of our Orphans No More podcast, host Sandra Flach talks with Samantha Morgan. Listen in as Samantha shares her story of infertility, international adoption, domestic adoption, and finding hope along the way.
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Monday May 10, 2021
Monday May 10, 2021
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed.” Proverbs 31:8
May is National Foster Care Month. To celebrate their selfless service, we are dedicating our Orphans No More podcast episodes this month to foster parents.
Our guest this week is Kentucky foster and adoptive mom, Jeanette Barreiro. Jeanette shares why she and her husband became foster parents and details the highs and lows of fostering and adopting two children from the system.
Listen in as Jeanette describes the challenges of parenting children with trauma histories and how she advocates for educators to be trauma informed as well.
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Monday May 03, 2021
Monday May 03, 2021
“Let true justice prevail, so you may live and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” Deuteronomy 16:20
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder is a topic of extreme importance for adoptive and foster families. Prenatal exposure to alcohol can cause FASDs—a wide rage of conditions including birth defects, brain injury, and physical, behavioral, and intellectual disabilities. These conditions are lifelong and irreversible.
Eighty percent of children with FASD are in foster and adoptive care. And 86.5% of children with FASD in out-of-home placement have never been diagnosed or have been misdiagnosed. Diagnosis and training for caregivers is vital to an individual’s success. And policy change at the state and national levels are key for families and everyone who comes in contact with individuals with an FASD.
This week on our Orphans No More Podcast, host Sandra Flach talks with Susan Shepard Carlson. Susan, Minnesota’s First Lady (1991-1997) is an attorney and retired Hennepin County Juvenile District Court judicial officer. She formed MOFAS in 1998 which is now Proof Alliance. Susan currently is on the Board of Directors of NOFAS (National Organization for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome).
Listen in as Susan shares why she is a passionate advocate for the FASD community and discusses the Advancing FASD Research, Prevention, and Services Act—a bill about to be introduced in the Senate. Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and share it on your social media.
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Monday Apr 26, 2021
Monday Apr 26, 2021
“And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” Ephesians 2:22
Adoption transforms lives. Not just the life of the adopted child. But the lives of parents also.
Through adoption, God opens our eyes and hearts to see and love like He does. We experience beauty in suffering, grace in sadness, and gratitude in grief. And according to adoptive mom, Lisa Murphy—you never feel closer to Jesus.
This week on our Orphans No More podcast, host Sandra Flach speaks with, Lisa Murphy. Lisa and her husband are parents of five children adopted from China. She is also the founder of Open Hearts for Orphans, a nonprofit created to care for orphaned and abandoned children around the world. Lisa authored the book With an Open Heart, a true story of love, loss, and unexpected blessings chronicling the adoption of their son Daniel who now waits for them in heaven.
Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and share it on your social media.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Sandra Flach, author
With an Open Heart book
Monday Apr 19, 2021
Monday Apr 19, 2021
“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” James 1:27
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders are brain-based disabilities caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol. About eighty percent of children in the U.S. foster care system have an FASD. Foster and adoptive parents must be educated about and trained in FASDs and childhood trauma.
Robbie Seale is an adoptive mom of four children with FASD. She is a Canadian FASD educator, advocate, and host of the new FASD Family Life podcast. This week on our Orphans No More podcast, host Sandra Flach, talks with Robbie about the major challenges she’s faced parenting her kids over the past twenty years.
Listen in as Robbie shares her story and explains how the struggle is real, but so is success. Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and share it on your social media.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Monday Apr 12, 2021
Monday Apr 12, 2021
“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 1:3-5
“The cross of Christ is our adoption process. Adoption is not a man-made plan B but God’s plan A from the beginning, even before He made the world. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His family. He would not leave us as orphans. Through Jesus Christ, He would adopt us and make us His children. We would be orphans no more.”
The above words are the opening lines from Sandra Flach’s new book, Orphans No More: A Journey Back to the Father. Sandra, adoptive mom, Exec. Dir. of Justice For Orphans, and podcast host, penned this memoir about her family’s adoption journey and lessons she learned about our spiritual adoption through the lens of an adoptive parent.
This week on her Orphans No More podcast, Sandra shares about the inspiration for writing the book and reads some excerpts. Orphans No More—A Journey Back to the Father releases in June. Tune in to learn how you can join Sandra’s Book Launch Team and be among the first to read her e-book.
Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and share it on your social media.
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Monday Apr 05, 2021
Monday Mar 29, 2021
Monday Mar 29, 2021
“The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with his justice and righteousness. He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.” Isaiah 33:5-6
Sandra Flach, host of our Orphans No More podcast, states, “I need the Lord to sustain me AND I need His wisdom and knowledge to navigate this adoptive parenting journey.”
This week on the show, Sandra shares some of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder knowledge she’s gained. She also dives into why FASD knowledge is important for foster and adoptive parents and how to apply it. Sandra closes the episode with prayer for families.
Tune in and learn how FASD is not “just” a behavioral problem but a lifelong developmental disability and why everyone involved with a person with FASD must be FASD informed.
Listen in to episode #267 HERE as Sandra, an adoptive mom of five kids, shares from her lived experience of parenting two kids diagnosed with an FASD. .
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Monday Mar 22, 2021
Monday Mar 22, 2021
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5
Shame, stigma, and myths surrounding Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders create barriers to helping individuals on the spectrum. The more caregivers are educated about FASD and the more equipped they are to parent children with an FASD, the more successful the outcomes will be for our kids.
This week on our Orphans No More podcast, host Sandra Flach, dives into two more FASD Facts from the FAFASD website. Tune in and learn how to navigate the shame and stigma associated with FASDs and how to tackle the myth that conveys a message of hopelessness surrounding those with an FASD.
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Links mentioned in this episode:
Monday Mar 15, 2021
Monday Mar 15, 2021
“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Matthew 6:33
Caring for individuals with trauma, including brain-based disabilities, is a difficult road to navigate. Daily struggles managing behaviors, educational and medical needs, and lack of support often takes a toll on marriages, siblings, and caregiver’s health.
On this week’s episode of Orphans No More, host Sandra Flach talks with adoptive mom, Gwen Bartley. Gwen struggled to meet the needs of her three adopted children, each with various mental health and intellectual disabilities. Fighting for services led her to establish Amazing Grace Advocacy—a nonprofit organization supporting families affected by brain disorders.
Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and share it on your social media.
Links mentioned in this episode:
AmazingGraceAdvocacy.org