Beyond the Match Foundation

09/29/2026

Just beginning your adoption journey? Preparation matters.

Our Adoption 101 and Adoption Preparation courses help prospective adoptive parents understand both the practical steps and emotional realities of domestic infant adoption.

Topics include:
• Choosing an adoption professional
• Completing the home study
• Understanding the matching process
• Creating realistic expectations
• Preparing your support system
• Communicating respectfully with expectant parents
• Navigating openness, placement and life after finalization

Our goal is to help families move forward feeling informed, grounded and prepared to approach adoption with a child-centered perspective.

Explore these courses:
https://www.beyondthematchfoundation.org/education-resources

09/24/2026

A new school year brings new teachers, new classrooms, new routines, new expectations, and a lot of big feelings.

Even when children are excited to return to school, so much change can feel overwhelming. You may notice more tears, irritability, exhaustion, difficulty sleeping, clinginess or challenging behavior at home. Sometimes children hold everything together during the school day and release those emotions when they return to the place where they feel safest. Parents, this adjustment can be hard for you, too. Give your child, and yourself, permission to need time. Keep routines as predictable as possible, create space for rest and connection, and remember that behavior often communicates something a child does not yet have the words to explain.

Not every afternoon has to be productive.
Not every evening has to go perfectly.
Sometimes a snack, a quiet space and your steady presence are enough.

As your family settles into this new school year, remember: adjustment takes time, connection matters more than perfection, and you are doing better than you think. 🤎

09/22/2026

Adoption education should do more than check a box. It should prepare families for the real, lifelong experiences that come with adoption. Over the next few weeks we will be introducing several of our education options!

Beyond the Match Foundation offers free and paid educational resources created and led by trusted experts in modern adoption topics. Our library covers preparation, parenting, openness, identity, trauma, attachment, placement and so much more. Even better, every purchase gives back. Proceeds from our paid educational resources go directly into our grant funds, helping families affected by adoption disruption and those needing adoption-competent therapy.

Explore our Education + Resources:
https://www.beyondthematchfoundation.org/education-resources

09/17/2026

Why do Therapy Grants matter?

We recently had the privilege of working with Briana Colton, an adoption-competent therapist who supported an adoptive family navigating a disruption. She shared this powerful professional perspective:

“An adoption disruption brings significant feelings of grief and loss, including fear, guilt, sadness, anger, frustration, and more. Prospective parents can be left wondering, ‘What did I do wrong?’ or ‘Why weren’t we good enough?’ even when the disruption had nothing to do with them. Families need access to specialized, adoption-competent therapy services to process these experiences and remain open to future adoption opportunities. Financial assistance programs like Therapy Grants can be incredibly valuable, helping families access the right provider at the frequency needed to cope with their loss, process the challenges and changes, and become ready to try again.”
— Briana Colton, MA, ATR-BC, LPCC
Permanency & Adoption Competency Certified
Vetted Therapist with Foster Adopt MN

We are incredibly grateful to Briana for the care she provided and for sharing her professional insight into why this support is so important.

Beyond the Match Foundation’s Therapy Grant Program helps cover out-of-pocket therapy expenses for families experiencing adoption disruption or adoption-related loss. Every donation helps make specialized mental health support more accessible when families need it most. Learn more or support our grant programs:
https://givebutter.com/the-beyond-the-match-fund-tfgggy

09/14/2026

✨From Disruption to a Family of Three✨

We are honored to introduce one of our recent Disruption Recovery Grant recipient families: Brian and Quincy and their beautiful son, Hendrix!

Brian and Quincy began their adoption journey in September 2024 after years of infertility. Adoption was already close to their hearts because Brian is also an adoptee. Their journey was filled with hope, uncertainty and heartbreak—including an adoption disruption in November 2025. Despite the emotional and financial loss they experienced, Brian and Quincy continued moving forward.

Today, they are home with their son, Hendrix, and his adoption has been finalized! 🤍

Beyond the Match Foundation was honored to award their family a $1,500 Disruption Recovery Grant! Their story is a beautiful reminder that even after tremendous heartbreak, hope can remain and a family’s story can continue to unfold in ways they never expected.

Read more about Brian and Quincy’s journey here:

🔗 https://www.beyondthematchfoundation.org/blog/celebraingourlatestgrantrecipients

Please join us in celebrating this wonderful family and welcoming sweet Hendrix! 🌈

08/19/2026

☀️ Pockets of Sunshine☀️

Adoption disruption can bring a kind of grief that few people truly understand. At Beyond the Match Foundation, one of the ways we support families walking through this loss is simple: we send a little sunshine their way.🤍

Our Pockets of Sunshine care packages are sent to adoptive families who have experienced an adoption disruption. Each package includes a handwritten note of encouragement along with a meaningful item chosen to offer hope and support, such as:

✨ A bracelet with a reminder of hope for the journey ahead
✨ Affirmation cards to encourage and uplift
✨ A journal to help process the emotions that come with disruption and loss

So far, these little pockets of sunshine have made their way to families in:

📍 North Carolina
📍 Florida
📍 Washington
📍 California
📍 Wisconsin
📍 Missouri
📍 North Dakota

Now, we would love your help filling the map.

🤍 Know a family who could use some sunshine?
If you know an adoptive family currently walking through an adoption disruption, please send us a private message. We would be honored to send them a care package and remind them that their grief is seen and they don't have to navigate this season alone. There is no donation required to nominate a family.

☀️ Want to sponsor the next package?
A gift of $20 helps sponsor a Pocket of Sunshine, including the items inside, packaging, and shipping. Your generosity allows us to continue reaching families across the country when they may need encouragement most.

Sponsor a care package here:
https://givebutter.com/the-beyond-the-match-fund-tfgggy

Sometimes support doesn't have to be big to be meaningful. Sometimes it's a handwritten note in the mailbox. A small reminder of hope. A simple message that says: We see you. Your grief matters. And you are not alone.☀️

By Beyond the Match Foundation

08/17/2026

Adoption doesn’t end at placement. 🤍

It can be easy to think of adoption as a moment:
A family is matched.
A baby or child comes home.
A judge finalizes the adoption.
And everyone moves forward.

But adoption is much bigger than a single moment.

Adoption is a lifelong experience—for adoptees, birth families, and adoptive families. As an adoptee grows, their understanding of adoption may grow and change with them. Questions about identity, belonging, genetics, culture, relationships, and loss may surface at different ages and stages of life. Birth parents may carry love, grief, pride, loss, hope, and many other emotions long after placement. And adoptive parents have an ongoing responsibility to keep learning, listening, and creating space for the full complexity of their child’s story. Supporting adoption well means making room for more than one truth at the same time.

🤍 Adoption can create family—and involve loss.
🤍 An adoptee can love their adoptive family—and wonder about their birth family.
🤍 A birth parent can feel confident in a decision—and still grieve.
🤍 Adoptive parents can feel tremendous joy—and still encounter hard or complicated seasons.

At Beyond the Match, we believe better adoption experiences begin with honest education and a willingness to listen to every voice in the adoption constellation. Because adoption isn’t just about the match. It’s about supporting everyone beyond it.

08/12/2026

Over the past several weeks, we've been working on a project very close to home, and we're so excited to share how it turned out!

Through our Beyond the Backpack initiative, our local community came together in an incredible way to help support Northern Valley students and families. Thanks to generous businesses, organizations, families, and individuals, we were able to fundraise for school supplies for every Northern Valley student and provide classroom snacks for the school year.
We wanted this project to be about more than supplies. We wanted to create connection, build school pride, promote kindness, and remind families what can happen when a community comes together. 💚

We wrapped up the project with our first Beyond the Backpack Back to School Night, welcoming approximately 85 students and their families for an evening of games, crafts, water fun, snow cones, face painting, community resources, and plenty of Husky pride! 🐾

Beyond the Match was created to support families touched by adoption, and that will always remain at the heart of our mission. But we also believe strongly in strengthening families and communities as a whole. This project was a beautiful opportunity to put that belief into action right here in our own community. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who donated, volunteered, showed up, and helped turn a simple idea into something so much bigger. We're already looking forward to growing Beyond the Backpack in the years ahead. 🎒💚

Thank you, Northern Valley Schools, for allowing us to be part of kicking off an amazing new school year!

🎒💚 What an AMAZING Back to School Night! 🐾
We were thrilled to welcome approximately 85 Northern Valley students, along with their families, for an evening filled with games, laughter, conversation, water fun, snow cones, and plenty of Husky spirit!
A special THANK YOU to our cheerleaders for offering face painting, to all of the parents, teachers, and community members who volunteered their time, and to the Northern Valley teachers and staff who came out to spend the evening with our students and families.
This is exactly what Beyond the Backpack is all about—bringing families, our school, and our community together to support our kids and start the school year on a positive note! Thank you, Northern Valley, for showing up! Here’s to an amazing school year ahead! 💚🐾

07/21/2026

📚 Adoption education should do more than check a box, it should prepare families for the lifelong journey ahead. 🤍

At Beyond the Match Foundation, we've created an adoption education program designed to equip families with honest, practical, and evidence-informed education that reflects the realities of modern adoption. Whether you're completing your home study education requirements or simply want to continue growing as an adoptive parent, our webinars and learning modules are here to support you.

✨ Topics include:
• Open Adoption
• Transracial Adoption
• Prenatal Substance Exposures
• Ambiguous Loss & Grief
• Adoptee Voices & Lived Experiences
• Trauma-Informed Parenting
• Newborn Placement & Hospital Preparation
• And coming soon... The Birth Parent Perspective—because every voice in the adoption constellation deserves to be heard.

We currently partner with home study providers in Wisconsin, Indiana, and Arizona, and we're excited to continue expanding our network so even more families can access high-quality adoption education.

💬 Here's what one family recently shared after completing their education package:

"We've truly enjoyed all of the education you've provided. It's been incredibly helpful, and we've learned so much throughout the process. Thank you for all the time and care that's gone into creating it and for supporting us along the way."
— The M Family

Our goal has never been to tell families what they want to hear. Our goal is to provide the education they need—bringing together perspectives from adoptees, birth parents, adoptive parents, and adoption professionals so families are better prepared for every stage of the journey.

🏡 Home study providers: We'd love to partner with you and offer your families a flexible, comprehensive education option.

❤️ Adoptive families: Learning doesn't stop after your home study. Our webinars are available to anyone who wants to continue growing and strengthening their family.

🔗 Learn more about our education programs at www.beyondthematchfoundation.org or send us a message!

07/15/2026

DID YOU KNOW?

An adoption disruption occurs when an adoption plan changes before placement or finalization. While the exact rate varies depending on the type of adoption and population studied, research has found disruption rates ranging from approximately 10–25%, with rates often lower for infant adoptions and higher for some older child or foster care adoptions.

At Beyond the Match Foundation, we believe two things can be true at the same time.

🤍 We celebrate when an expectant parent feels empowered, supported, and able to parent their child. When families can safely stay together, that is something worth celebrating.

🤍 We also recognize that an adoptive family experiencing a disruption has suffered a very real loss.

Many hopeful adoptive parents have spent months or even years preparing. They may have decorated a nursery, chosen a name, told family and friends, purchased plane tickets, or invested thousands of dollars into the adoption process.

Then, in a single moment, everything changes. What people often don't see is the grief that follows.

They may feel heartbroken.
They may question everything.
They may wonder if it's okay to mourn.

We want every adoptive family to know this: Your grief is valid.

Acknowledging your loss does not take away from celebrating an expectant parent's decision to parent. Compassion isn't limited, we can hold space for both.

That's why Beyond the Match Foundation exists.

💙 To remind families they are not alone.
💙 To provide emotional support and mental health resources.
💙 To help ease the financial burden through disruption recovery grants.
💙 To walk alongside families as they heal and find hope again.

Because healing begins when people feel seen, heard, and supported.