Lionheart : The Real Life Guide for Adoptive Families

You've completed the paperwork, waited and waited and then waited some more. Then, your adopted child is yours to parent. And you plan to parent them better than anyone has ever been parented before. You've trained for this, you've prepared for this. You are so ready! Before long, you realise that the hard work is just starting. You realise that you are dealing with a child who has experienced trauma, and that you need to partner them in healing. You face unusual behavioural issues. You can't tell your friends that your child is peeing on the floor to annoy you, or that your child is using snot as a weapon. You face a world that treats you differently because you are an adoptive family. You start to feel isolated as people tell you "that's just kids". You feel like that just isn't true. This is where Lionheart comes in. This book was written over two years, a collaboration between four adoptive parents with over a decade of intercountry adoption experience each. Lionheart shares many of the issues they faced, and continue to face, with their children. It chronicles years of trial and error and many (so many!) mistakes, with the accompanying struggles, successes and learnings.The authors wish that they had had this book when starting their adoption journeys. They hope it will provide you comfort that you're not alone, and save you the many mistakes they have made! Lionheart is a for-purpose venture, with all proceeds from the book supporting a range of targeted projects benefiting vulnerable children in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cambodia, under the banner of Big Love Family Projects.