Fostering

I am considering fostering and wondering if any of you have any experience with it.

I will be in college next year which is when I wanted to start. If I am financially stable, emotionally mature and have enough time to take care of a child, I feel I could do it, but is this a bad idea? Should I wait?

I’m also single and don’t know how that affects things. I also am not looking to necessarily adopt, though I would be open to it, I’m not sure if that would change anything.

No particular advice here but we started the process of applying to an agency in 2018. My husband ended up getting a really exciting job offer just as we were invited to the training/classes, so we moved and didn’t continue. I’m still hoping we can eventually pick up where we left off, although we’ve got six bio kids now. [name_m]Foster[/name_m] parenting does sound incredibly challenging but young foster parents probably have lots of energy!

I would not recommend fostering as a college student. I cannot imagine a college student balancing the psychological and emotional pressures of university with the demands that will be placed on you as a foster parent.

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This is so awesome! I’m also planning to foster in a few years. When I was younger our friend fostered for years and I had the privilege of babysitting for them.

Some things to keep in mind:

  • Many times these children will have trauma
  • Older children are less likely to find a foster home bc so many people want babies :frowning:
  • Many times children come with little to no belongings, stock up on essentials
  • [name_f]Every[/name_f] child is different, you never know what exactly to expect

No matter the children that are placed with you, the most important thing is to make sure that they always feel safe and loved in your care. I truly hope you go through with it and even though it is a long process, you’re making a huge difference in a child’s life. Please update us!

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Update (in case anyone is still interested in this thread)—we are now foster parents.
We have emergency placement of a teen girl, as of earlier this week.
[name_u]Haven[/name_u]’t even announced it on my FB page, mostly due to privacy concerns. I want to wait until we’re an “official” placement before saying much to anyone.
She’s an awesome kid. Wish us luck in doing well by her.

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Update: Our FD had to move on earlier this month. I am very sad.

We are pivoting to TTC now, in a few months. Hopefully we are still young enough to do so successfully.

Oh how sad! It’s wonderful that you were able to be with her when she really needed it, even if it was only for a short while. I understand you may not want/be able to say why it happened, but is it pretty much out of your hands as foster parents when a child moves on?

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Unless the foster parent requests or needs a child to be placed elsewhere, it is 100% out of the foster parents control if a child is placed elsewhere or returned to family.

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