We work together with foster, adoptive and birth parents to create and support stable, loving homes for vulnerable children in our community.
Since 1921, Amara has been serving children and families in Washington state.
If You’re Pregnant
If You’re Pregnant
If you were not expecting to get pregnant, you need to know that you have options. Our Amara all-options pregnancy counselors can help you explore your options for approaching your unplanned pregnancy: parent your child, plan an adoption, or have an abortion. We support your decision, whatever it may be.
If you consider growing your family through adoption, Amara can help. Amara adoption experts guide and support families from the first step in the adoption process through the family’s joyful adoption finalization ceremony.
For 90 years, Amara has watched children flourish in the love and stability of their adoptive families. We know there is no substitute for a nurturing, permanent family to enable children to thrive.
This four-hour workshop explores the complexities of sibling relationships, particularly for children who have been in foster care. Using presentations, exercises, and small group discussions, we consider how adoptive parents can understand their children and their children’s roles as individuals as well as members of their birth and adoptive families.
This workshop is recommended for families considering adopting a sibling set or welcoming a child into a home where children already exist.
Amara’s free childbirth class is designed for women who are facing an unplanned pregnancy and unsure if a traditional childbirth class is a good fit. The class is designed to help pregnant women prepare for labor and delivery and to reduce their fears and anxiety around childbirth. Class size is limited.
November is National Adoption Month. We at Amara invite all our families and supporters to join us in celebrating the many children and families who have come together through adoption. If you’re currently in the adoption process, have a finalized adoption in your family, or want to celebrate the adoption of others, please join us on Saturday November 12, 1:30 – 3:30 pm at St. Therese Parish, 3416 E. Marion Street, Seattle.
What to expect:
arts & crafts
live music by Allyoop, a children’s musician
kid-friendly refreshments
complimentary family portraits taken by a professional photographer, Julie Sotomura
The goal of this two-hour session is to introduce you to Amara and our adoption services, as well as to provide an overview of adoption in the areas of foster-to-adopt and private relinquishment. You’ll be encouraged to ask questions throughout the session of both Amara staff and the family.
Where: Central Library, 210 Central Avenue, Bellingham.
“I realized I have to think less about the kind of father I want to be, and think more about what kind of father my kids need me to be.” I recently heard this said by a new foster and hopeful-adoptive parent, placed with siblings. The quote struck me as words of wisdom for any parents, and adoptive parents in particular.
It’s quite normal and healthy to begin thinking about parenting in terms of your own journey as a person and as a parent. During the home study process, I encourage families to reflect on their thoughts and feelings associated with their motivation to adopt in an effort to enable them to separate their own needs from their child’s needs, and be more emotionally present for the child. I also notice that before being placed with children, people usually have visions of themselves as parents, whether it is reading stories to their toddler, teaching their six year old to ride a bike, or helping their teen sort through her feelings about being adopted. While all these contemplations can be beneficial, it’s important that they don’t become rigid expectations for what it will actually be like to parent your child.
When placed with a child, new parents often experience excitement as they get to know their child and are able to observe the benefits of the love and care they are providing. Parents may feel their wishes and visions have come true. However, once a child begins to feel more comfortable in a home, she will sometimes show the depths of her fear, pain, or confusion related to past experiences or simply to the adjustment and transition to her new home. When this happens, parents may find that their child’s newer, more challenging presentation appears to be vastly different than what they imagined it would be. In the best case scenario, parents experience an epiphany of sorts, and shift their focus to a child’s perspective, similar to the father described above. Parents search for new ways to respond to their child and may greatly benefit from enlisting the assistance of therapists or specialists with experience in adoption or attachment. These professionals can help parents discard some of their former notions of themselves as parents, and accept a more realistic approach to meeting their children’s needs. They can help parents understand how their child’s behaviors reveal underlying developmental, emotional, or social challenges.
Of course, everyone’s experience of preparing to adopt and adopting is quite different. To pre-adoptive and adoptive parents, I invite you to do this: take a thoughtful look at what you want and expect, and then, widen your focus to what your child needs and deserves.
Sarah O’Neill, MSW, Adoption and Foster Care Specialist at Amara
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This three-hour training helps adoptive parents understand adoption as a blended family experience. We discuss birth parent stereotypes and consider a collaborative approach to working with birth families to encourage the healthy, lifelong development of each child.
*This training is required of families adopting through Amara.
Where: Amara, 3300 E. Union St., Seattle, WA 98122
To ensure we have sufficient childcare assistance on hand at every session, we ask that you let us know ahead of time each month that you plan to attend. RSVP at 206.260.1700 or amara@amaraparenting.org.
P.R.I.D.E. (parents’ resource for information, development, and education) is a required part of the licensing process for foster and adoptive parents. The program is a valuable resource for families learning about children in foster care and the roles foster and adoptive families have when caring for these children.
Who can attend: Anyone, 21 and older, who is considering adopting a child from foster care or becoming a temporary foster care provider. This community training is free.
When: Friday, October 28, Saturday, October 29, and Sunday, October 30, 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Where: Amara, 3300 E. Union St., Seattle, WA 98122
This four-hour workshop offers an opportunity to explore ways in which LGBT families are wonderful and different from other families. Participants will focus on ways to prepare for the joys and challenges that may arise throughout the adoption process and continue into parenthood.
Workshop facilitators are both proud adoptive parents; between them, they have more than 25 years of teaching and training experience.
Where: Amara, 3300 E. Union St., Seattle, WA 98122
This training will expand on the original and required Transracial & Transcultural Adoption Training and will include topics such as Development of Racial Identity, Talking to Kids about Race & Culture, Seeking Diversity, and Challenging Racism. The training begins with a discussion of the “Below the Surface” self assessment participants received in session 1, and requires that participants both complete the assessment and bring it with them to the part 2 training.
Where: Amara, 3300 E. Union St., Seattle, WA 98122
