![Deana and Matthew and their children David, Sharni and Jacob.](/web/20170606111716im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/c/m/a/l/image.related.landscape.380x253.gwcpnu.png/1496101754511.jpg)
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![While adoption can be a wonderful option, we must also be aware of the dangers.](/web/20170606111716im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/3/x/7/z/4/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.ghh4o3.gmwj6a.png/1456981563324.jpg)
Why quick and easy adoptions aren't always best
Imagine for one moment your child went missing. Surely you would expect no stone to be left unturned to find them - even if took six months, a year, two, even more.
![<i></i>](/web/20170606111716im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/3/u/r/5/0/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.1mptwa.gmwj6a.png/1456981563324.jpg)
Adoptive mums and dads can get new parent depression too
Adopting a child is supposed to be a joyous event, but for some mothers it is far from a Hallmark moment.
![Jackie's son shows no interest in his Cabbage Patch Doll "little brother".](/web/20170606111716im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/3/j/2/g/2/image.related.landscape.120x80.11cu48.gmwj6a.png/1456981563324.jpg)
![Adoption](/web/20170606111716im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/6/y/j/g/image.related.landscape.120x80.6yiy.gmwj6a.png/1456981563324.jpg)
!["From her perspective, I radiated 'LOOK AT ME', while she had spent a lifetime pretending I had never happened" ... ...](/web/20170606111716im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/2/f/1/3/u/image.related.landscape.120x80.2f114.gmwj6a.png/1456981563324.jpg)
![Adoption](/web/20170606111716im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/3/4/6/0/n/image.related.landscape.120x80.3460e.gmwj6a.png/1456981563324.jpg)
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![<i></i>](/web/20170606111716im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/c/f/y/y/image.related.landscape.300x200.gvcf8y.png/1491233185481.jpg)
Is 'platonic parenting' the future of motherhood?
After job sharing and flat sharing, are we about to see friends take up child sharing?
![Scales of justice](/web/20170606111716im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/0/s/2/o/image.related.landscape.300x200.gv4qdm.png/1495794035194.jpg)
Adoption by same-sex couple opposed by Catholic birth parents
A court has allowed a four-year-old girl to be adopted by a same-sex couple despite her birth parents' opposition on the basis of their Catholic faith.
![<i></i>](/web/20170606111716im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/a/k/k/b/image.related.landscape.300x200.guakgd.png/1486722852099.jpg)
The foster dad who only takes in terminally ill children
He has buried about 10 children. Some died in his arms.
![Marc Hadden with baby Grace. "We are truly blessed, for sure."](/web/20170606111716im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/3/2/m/d/image.related.landscape.300x200.gu30pr.png/1485990508863.png)
Firefighter adopts baby girl he helped deliver
Five years ago firefighter Marc Hadden took an emergency call that changed his life.
![Christine with her sons Taylor and Payton on adoption day.](/web/20170606111716im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/m/l/y/9/image.related.landscape.300x200.gt0ly9.png/1483599595304.jpg)
'It was brutal, and it was love'
It was National Adoption Day when Christine Blaine showed up to watch judges sign the adoption papers.
![Adoption day - when a family of four became a family of six.](/web/20170606111716im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/c/p/3/3/image.related.landscape.300x200.gtcj40.png/1482101553828.jpg)
Mum's emotional letter to foster kids: 'I don't love you like my own'
A mother has written an emotional letter to her daughters to commemorate the day of their adoption.
!["It took his left-behind toothbrush to undo me."](/web/20170606111716im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/5/w/h/w/image.related.landscape.300x200.gt5run.png/1481426789304.jpg)
Foster carer shares heartfelt post on 'getting attached' to kids
"It took his left-behind toothbrush to undo me," writes foster carer Rachel Hillestad in a post to the Love What Matters Facebook page.
![Adoption laws](/web/20170606111716im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/n/v/9/j/image.related.landscape.300x200.gsjsyh.png/1478646568812.jpg)
Australian families still face a long wait for intercountry adoption
As the Dutch government considers halting intercountry adoptions, Australia has signed agreements with three new countries in the past year.
![<i></i>](/web/20170606111716im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/j/r/4/k/image.related.landscape.300x200.gsjq6w.png/1478494057247.jpg)
What most people don't know about adopting a child
I have been through the adoption process twice now and I know that I am indeed one of the more fortunate ones.
![The new parents of four and the judge who made the adoptions official.](/web/20170606111716im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/h/y/l/q/image.related.landscape.300x200.gshuu4.png/1478224206176.jpg)
The couple who adopted four children under two in one day
Kaley Carling and her husband had dreamed of having a family to call their own for many years.
![Katie and Josh Butler with their son Brax and a photo of their late son Dewey.](/web/20170606111716im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/h/5/h/q/image.related.landscape.300x200.gsh5vu.png/1478143765892.jpg)
'It gave purpose to Dewey's short life': couple adopts son from same hospital where their baby died
"We are so grateful for Brax, and if it weren't for Dewey we wouldn't have met. It gave purpose to Dewey's short life."
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