My Kids Know More Than Me!
"This is an inspiring firsthand account of the joys and trials of building a family through adoption."
— KEVIN HARRIGAN, Esquire Fellow, American Academy of Adoption Attorneys
Author's Bio
Byline Bio
Renee Hettich, LMSW is a leader in the field of adoption and parenting and is a highly respected child and family advocate. She is an accomplished speaker and author on the topic of adoptive parenting. She is the author of the book My Kids Know More Than Me! 15 Life Lessons from Foster and Adopted Children published by Robert’s Family Publishing. Renee is the mother of four adopted children - two daughters and one son who were born in China and a son adopted from Guatemala. She was also a foster parent before becoming an adoptive mother. Renee earned a Master of Social Work degree from Marywood University, a Master’s Degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a Bachelor’s Degree from Ithaca College. For the past twenty-five years she has devoted her life to the well-being of children and families.
Full Bio
Renee Hettich, LMSW, is a Licensed Master Social Worker who specializes in adoption and child welfare. She is a recognized expert who brings a real-life perspective to adoptive parenting. She is the mother of four adopted children - two daughters who were born in the People’s Republic of China, a son adopted from Guatemala, and a son who joined her family after he lived in an orphanage for children with special needs in China. Renee was also a foster parent before she adopted. After her first daughter arrived home, Renee decided to dedicate her life to finding forever families for orphaned children throughout the world. She made a promise to the hundreds of thousands of children she had to leave behind in orphanages that she would work diligently to find them a family.
Renee earned a Master of Social Work degree from Marywood University. Since 2005, she has been a Licensed Master Social Worker in the field of adoption. Renee is a member of the National Association of Social Workers. Renee also holds a Master’s Degree in Audiology from the University of Pittsburgh and she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Speech/Language Pathology from Ithaca College.
Renee’s book “My Kids Know More Than Me! 15 Life Lessons from Foster and Adopted Children” was published by Robert’s Family Publishing, an Imprint of Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing in 2017. Renee is also known for her professional lectures on adoption and parenting. She has also published articles in Adoption Today (a national adoption magazine). More importantly, Renee is a parent of incredible children from whom she learns new lessons every day.
For more information, visit mykidsknow.wixsite.com/robertsfamilypublish.
You may also contact her at (607) 345 - 8513 and via email at robertsfamilypublishing@gmail.com.
Segments Ideas
Top 10 reasons to adopt a child
Lessons adopted children teach us.
Who are the children waiting for parents (in the US and abroad)?
How do I adopt (from the US and abroad)?
The joys and challenges of adopting.
Parenting trans-racially.
Adopting/parenting children with special needs.
What are the costs of adoption and why.
Adding a child to your family through adoption.
Adopting an older child.
Celebrating birth families (known and unknown).
Speaking Topics
Ethics in Adoption
The application of ethical principles and decision-making models to clinical practice. An interactive dialogue and debate among the participants and presenter regarding ethical issues in adoption.
How to Adopt – Domestically or Internationally
An overview of domestic adoption or international adoption and how to be successful in the adoption process.
The Joys and Challenges of International Adoption
An exploration of international adoption – children in need, the adoption process, the unique needs of the children, becoming a multicultural family, and the joys of becoming an international family.
Risks & Resiliency: Children Adopted from Foreign Orphanages
The risks and resiliency of children adopted from orphanages. The impact of institutionalization and adoption on a child’s cognitive, motor, language, sensory, and social/emotional development.
Are Those Your Kids? How to Respond to Questions from Family, Friends, and Strangers
Strategies for respectful responses to awkward questions regarding your adoptive family from family, friends, and strangers.
Fostering Positive Cultural and Ethnic Identity in Children Adopted Trans-racially and Trans-culturally
An exploration of 4 factors that influence a child’s development of a healthy, positive, and integrated racial and cultural identity.
Adoption and the Schools
Strategies for supporting an adopted child's social/emotional health and educational needs related to their adoption at school.
Parenting a Child with Special Needs
The ups and downs of parenting a child with special medical, developmental, and educational needs.
Book Summary and Excerpts
“I’m learning more from my children than they will ever learn from me.”
Summary:
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The book, “My Kids Know More Than Me! shares true stories of how foster and adopted children inspire new understandings and teach us fifteen important life lessons. Each chapter explores a life lesson taught through the stories of foster and adopted children. Lessons important to parenting and personal character include resiliency, compassion, playfulness, persistence, forgiveness, trust, responsiveness, and gratefulness. Lessons vital to successful parenting include how to listen to your children, how to look at life through your children’s eyes, and how to trust in your children’s expertise. Lessons to help parents meet the challenges of issues large and small include expect the unexpected (and be okay with that), attend to what is important and dismiss the trivial, and live life with purpose. There is one lesson specific to adoptive parenting regarding how our children’s birth families are an integral and important part of our family forever.
Readers of this book will gain wisdom from life’s greatest teachers – our children. Most parenting books tell parents how to teach and impart wisdom to their children. This book does the opposite; it has children teaching parents the most important lessons in life.
“My mom told me once that every child is a puzzle, and as each new piece gets added, it helps to reveal a beautiful picture in the end.”
- Foreword by Rose Hettich
“Adoptive and foster parenting holds many surprises, which are both joyous and challenging.”
"After four days in the hospital and a few months of recovery at home, Rose proved to everyone that she can rebound from a very hard beginning in life. As I reflect back on Rose’s early start in a rural, impoverished orphanage and her battle to beat her early illnesses, I am in awe of her capacity to be resilient and I am very proud of her accomplishments. Now fourteen years after her hospitalization in China, Rose is a compassionate, kind, generous, loving, silly, creative, and intelligent young woman who has changed, and will continue to change, the world. During dinner one night, Rose and her sister and brother were talking about what their lives would be like if they had not been adopted. Her sister and brother had interesting answers, but Rose had a very simple, yet profound answer: “I’d be dead."
“Life would be so much easier if we could predict what was going to happen and be able to make a plan. Of course, my daughter, who has just finished reading this chapter, said, 'Then life would be boring.' Parenting, particularly adoptive parenting, is full of surprises. Around every corner is something new and usually unexpected. Embrace the unexpected: it will shape who you become and enrich your life beyond measure.”
“Thank you for reminding me what is important in life: my family.”
"How can you use your power to change the future of the world?”
SELL SHEET
My Kids Know More Than Me! 15 Life Lessons from Foster and Adopted Children
Written By: Renee Hettich, LMSW
Release Date: February 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-942545-77-4
$17.50, 180 pages
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Published by Robert’s Family Publishing,
Imprint of Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing