All the Sweeter: Families Share Their Stories of Adopting from Foster Care

Jean Minton

May 2019 · She Writes Press

About this ebook

All the Sweeter tells the stories of families who have adopted one or more children from the US foster care system. Each of the twelve families interviewed has a dedicated chapter in which at least one representative tells their family’s adoption story. Woven through these stories are topical chapters that explore the common challenges these families face, including the complications that accompany transracial adoptions, helping children understand adoption, relationships with birth parents, and raising a traumatized child. Each year, over 50,000 children are adopted from the US Foster Care System.
Informative and diverse in scope, All the Sweeter provides a resource to families considering adoption, families in the process of adoption, and families who have already adopted children from foster care—with the ultimate goal of facilitating a better life for the children they bring into their lives.

About the author

Jean Minton witnessed many children who lost their parents to AIDS in the early 2000s as a Peace Corps health volunteer in Malawi. This experience opened her eyes to the possibility of adopting. In San Francisco a decade later, she volunteered on the board of directors for Adopt A Special Kid (AASK), a foster-to-adopt agency. AASK’s mission captured her heart and cemented her desire to create her own forever family with the help of the foster-to-adopt process. As she considered starting a family, she sought resources to help understand the foster-to-adopt process. She didn’t find quite what she wanted―so decided to write it herself. Minton earned a Bachelor of Science at Duke University and her MBA at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. She lives in Sacramento, California, works in healthcare administration, and is a Board Member for Lilliput Children’s Services (a similar organization to AASK). She spends much of her time outdoors and with family and friends.