Welcome to Season Two of the What to Expect While Fostering and Adopting podcast!

I’m Christine Marie — adoptive mom, former foster parent, and biblical mindset coach. Whether you're navigating foster care, adoption, or parenting a child with trauma or mental health challenges — you’re in the right place.

In this season premiere, I’m joined by Donna Kirkwood — former special education teacher, adoptive mom, author, and woman of deep faith — as she shares her family’s journey of saying “yes” to adopting a child with high needs.

From the early days of behavioral challenges and medication decisions to the later diagnosis of schizoaffective bipolar disorder, Donna walks us through how faith, structure, and community helped them navigate trauma-informed parenting and deep unknowns.

We talk about:

• Adopting a child with high needs and complex diagnoses

• Parenting through mental health challenges with grace and structure

• Medications and behavioral support through a trauma-informed lens

• Why boundaries, faith, and consistency matter

• Donna’s book, He Is the Vine, as a source of spiritual encouragement during hard seasons

Whether you're parenting a child with trauma, navigating mental health in adoption, or walking through uncertainty with God — this episode will speak to your heart.

☕ Grab your coffee and settle in — this one will stretch you, strengthen you, and remind you why love is always worth it.

💕 PS — Want to join a supportive space for women who are navigating foster care, adoption, or just want to love others well? Come join us here: 👉 facebook.com/groups/fostercareandadoptionforchristianwomen

Connect with Donna Kirkwood: 📘 He Is the Vine: From the Vineyard to the Tasting Room 📔 Companion Study Guide also available 📧 Email: www.DonnaKirkwood.com

Welcome to the What to Expect While Fostering and Adopting podcast. I’m Christine Marie — adoptive mom, former foster parent, and biblical mindset coach. Whether you’re in the early stages of foster care, navigating adoption, or standing in a season of unknowns — this space was created for you.

Today’s episode is different.

It’s not polished or perfectly planned — it’s real. It’s raw. It’s what I’m walking through right now.

Last night, my daughter chose to leave. And after years of fighting, praying, loving, and believing for healing, I came to a place I never thought I’d be: surrender.

Not because I stopped loving her — but because love doesn’t force. Love releases. Love trusts.

This episode is a reflection on what it means to surrender your child to God when nothing makes sense. It’s for the mama who’s exhausted. The one who’s grieving. The one who has done everything “right” and still feels like it’s falling apart.

If you’ve ever had to release control, grieve what could have been, or trust God with the child you love — I pray this message meets you in that sacred space.

☕ Grab your coffee and settle in — this one will stretch you, strengthen you, and remind you why love is always worth it.

XO-Christine

💕 PS — Want to join a supportive space for women who are navigating foster care, adoption, or just want to love others well? Come join us here: 👉 facebook.com/groups/fostercareandadoptionforchristianwomen

This week’s episode is one I hope every adoptive and foster parent listens to - and listens with an open heart.

I’m honored to sit down with Sydney Curtin - birth mom, author of Courageous Considerations, speaker, life coach, and founder of Curtin Call - as she shares the raw and painful truth about her adoption story, and why she’s now advocating for ethical reform across the entire industry.

In 2019, Sydney made what she believed was the most loving and selfless decision a mother could make - placing her daughter for adoption. What followed was a heartbreaking unraveling of promises made to her and her child. From being coerced into signing away her rights to experiencing the gut-wrenching reality of an unenforceable open adoption, Sydney’s story exposes what many don’t realize about the current adoption system.

Together, we talk about: • The myth of open adoption • Why adoption must be treated as a lifelong relationship, not a transaction • How faith, courage, and grief shape the journey for birth moms • What it looks like to center the child while honoring both families involved

Sydney’s book, Courageous Considerations, is a powerful tool designed to help both adoptive and natural families ask the hard questions before, during, and after placement. Because adoption, when done right, is not the severing of one family - it’s the joining of two.

Whether you’ve adopted, are considering adoption, or want to better understand the full picture of what ethical, relational adoption can look like - this conversation will challenge you, stretch you, and invite you into something deeper.

☕ Grab your coffee, get comfy, and let’s dig in. XO, Christine Marie

💕 PS — Want to join a supportive space for women who are navigating foster care, adoption, or just want to love others well?

Come join us here: 👉 facebook.com/groups/fostercareandadoptionforchristianwomen

Connect with Sydney Curtin: 🌐 Website: www.coachcurtin.com 📘 Courageous Considerations – now available on her website 📲 TikTok & Instagram: @Coach_SydneyCurtin 📘 Facebook: Sydney N. Curtin