We asked you, our listeners, what you would like to hear discussed on The Empowered Advocate podcast, and many of you requested an episode on adoption. So we’re excited to share not one, but two brand new episodes from The Empowered Advocate podcast: The Impact of Adoption, parts 1 and 2. In these two episodes, we interview Chad & Holly Cooke, a couple with both professional and personal adoption experience.
The Cookes adopted their first son from Ethiopia, then had two biological sons, and are now in the process of a domestic adoption. The Cookes answer questions on everything from the impact of adoption on family relationships to real-life scenarios encountered after a transracial adoption.
Listen to the episodes below, watch on our YouTube channel, or listen wherever you can find podcasts. Check out the timestamps below to jump to each question/topic we discuss with the Cookes.
We have also provided a short list below of resources related to adoption that the Cookes recommended. Happy listening!
Recommended Resources from Chad & Holly:
The Whole-Brain Child by Dr. Dan Siegel & Dr. Tina Payne Bryson
The Connected Child by Karen Purvis
Adopted for Life by Russell Moore
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing Trauma by Bessel van derk Kolk M.D.
Show Notes – Part 1
1:00 – Meet Chad & Holly Cooke
2:30 – The Cookes share their motivation behind pursuing adoption
4:18 – How do I get started with the adoption process?
7:58 – What were some of the challenges you faced in the adoption process (prior to bringing you son home)?
10:15 – How were you challenged in your faith during this process?
11:30 – What challenges did you experience as a mom and dad after you brought your son home?
13:28 – What suggestions do you have for someone who wants to adopt transracially but is apprehensive?
15:10 – The impact of adoption on the child who comes home
21:45 – How to combat the mentality of “We are rescuing this child.”
24:36 – How do you handle the dynamics of having two biological sons and one adopted son of a different ethnicity? How have your sons handled this dynamic?
27:27 – At what point did you share with you son that he was adopted?
28:59 – How have each of you grown spiritually after bringing your son home?
32:17 – What advice would you give to someone who is considering adoption?
Show Notes – Part 2
0:30 – What are some of the differences between pursuing an international adoption vs. a domestic adoption?
1:35 – Chad and Holly share about how their second adoption has been an eight year process
2:48 – How involved have the boys been in this adoption process, and what are some ways that you have been preparing your family for a new brother or sister?
5:00 – What strategies do you have for adopting another child into the home when there are already children in the family?
7:41 – How has your extended family reacted to the adoption(s)? What advice would you give to people on how to prepare their families for the transition?
9:25 – What should people NOT say to someone who is in the process of adoption?
12:32 – Any last insights you’d give to those who are contemplating adoption?