Parenting Your Internationally Adopted Child: From Your First Hours Together Through the Teen Years

by Patty Cogen

Book Overview

A guide for adoptive parents from preparations for a child's arrival through the teen years.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1558323260
• ISBN13: 9781558323261
• Release Date: May 2008
• Publisher: Harvard Common Press
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 1.47 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A Must Read for Adoptive Parents

We adopted our child seven years ago and just recently bought this book. How I wish we would have had it six years ago! This book should be required reading for any parent of an internationally adopted child. It will help you understand your child's behavior, feelings and needs. It is well written and the information is well organized. So even if your child has been home with you for several years - I recommend you purchase and read this book!

Parenting ... all children

We have two daughters, ages 12 and 8, who have been home with us for just over 20 months. Prior to the adoption, we took some training to meet Hague requirements. After that we went on reading and learning because we wanted to have a broad understanding of the issues we might encounter and approaches that might be useful. I estimate that we have 20 well-worn books on our adoption bookshelf. All are excellent, but this one is the best. Although the author clearly has therapeutic preferences, she isn't trying to convince us that she is RIGHT. She offers quite practical ideas to help parents to see concrete ways of building trust and attachment, for example, and for understanding our children's difficult behaviors. I think this book should remove 'Internationally Adopted' from its title: it would benefit all parents!

A Gift to Adoptive Parents and Adoption Professionals

In eight years of raising an adopted daughter, we have read numerous books on the subject. None have been quite as helpful as Patty Cogen's Parenting Your Internationally Adopted Child. Why? More than other resources, Cogen's book effectively pairs learned insights with immediately implementable strategies. Cogen's choice to profile the challenges and successes of five distinct adoptive families, weaving their examples throughout, adds to the book's readability. Readers learn that "a proactive approach, in which you are knowledgeable about your child's needs and are able to anticipate problems before they occur, keeps you ahead of, rather than behind, your child." For a parent, there is nothing more empowering than learning how to actively foster the positive emotional development of your child. And, if you have a blended family, like ours (with birthed and adopted children), Cogen's insights will sharpen your senses in a way that benefits the entire family. Whether a person preparing for the journey of adoption or a parent in search of answers, this book is an invaluable resource. It will surely find itself on the required reading list of enlightened adoption agencies.

Spot-On Accurate

I'm typically not a fan of self-help or "the latest in research" types of books, so I was initially hesitant to buy this book. But I did buy it on strong recommendation from a friend. And I'm glad I did. Wow. As the parent of a 2 year old adopted daughter from China, I am amazed at how Patty Cogen explains behavior patterns of internationally adopted children as related to scientific research in child development and brain development. With each chapter, I feel as if Cogen is talking about my daughter and is talking to me about parenting practices that will work best with her. This is a must-read for all parents of internationally adopted children, whether those children are infants or teenagers.

A brightly written book with honest insights

This book offers honest insights into the ebbs and flows of parenting your internationally adopted child while taking us inside the lives of families facing important decisions as parents. The sections about teens are especially important in today's world of confusion about parenting the adolescent. Most touching to me is the respect the author shows for teens. The book leaves the reader feeling supported, with a sense of warmth and hope that even when faced with the most challenging moments as a parent of a teen, there are proven ways to grow through them. Patty Cogen shares concrete methods to use as a parent. This is an important book that would be useful for any parent of a child adopted from a foreign country. Clinicians interested in clear views about proactive and supportive parenting of children in general would be grateful to have this comprehensive, real-life guide close at hand.