What It’s Like to Be a Single Foster Mother

By Alex Temblador

Amy is a 38-year-old teacher in the Los Angeles area, and she is also a single foster mother.

An amazing video provides insight in to the life and experience of Amy, a single foster mother. She explains why she became a foster parent: “I became a foster mom because I knew I wanted to be a mom. I’d worked with foster children in my teaching career. And I saw the need for positive role models in their life, so I started by volunteering.”

Since she became a foster parent, Amy has fostered five different children and hopes to foster adopt her current foster son, a toddler. However, her experience as a single foster parent hasn’t been without it’s difficulties.

“When my first child was reunified to his birth family, it was heartbreaking,” Amy said. “It was really difficult and I thought, I’m never going to do this again, it was hard on my family, it was hard on my friends, it was hard on my community and it was very hard on me. And I just thought, I can’t do it.”

Other hardships include financial sacrifices. In Los Angeles where Amy lives, the cost of living is high as is childcare services. The monthly stipend unfortunately doesn’t cover all of the costs associated with raising a child.

And yet, these things don’t stop Amy from being a single foster parent.

She shares how her second experience as a foster parent was very positive:

“And I did it again, and the second time around was probably the most beautiful experience I’ve ever had, with another family and helping a family be reunited with their child.”

Moreover, her son, the one she hopes to adopt, has brought immense joy to her life. “He is so exuberant and so joyful and he teaches me so much, he reminds me to slow down and appreciate everything around me. He’ll point out the roly-poly bug and the yellow flower and the moon and say, ‘What’s that? A star!’” said Amy.

She added, “This has been by far the happiest year of my life. Since my son came home, the joy that I have felt in being his mom and just having him.”

Get an inside look at being a single foster parent in the video below and the amazing rewards from foster-adopting.

Alex Temblador is a writer for The Next Family and founder of the women’s inspirational blogazine, Fempotential.