Chasing Kites

One Woman's Unexpected Journey Through Infertility, Adoption, and Foster Care

By: Rachel McCracken

Narrated by: Lori Felipe-Barkin

From the sterile isolation of infertility and its treatments to the emotional rollercoaster of adoption and foster care, Rachel McCracken gets it! She gets the heartache and the sorrow of the desolate valley called Infertility. She gets the dedication and work that it takes to blend a family. She gets the commitment and purpose one needs to help children rise from the ashes of abandonment and fear.

Rachel's new book, Chasing Kites: One Mother's Unexpected Journey Through Infertility, Adoption, and Foster Care weaves her real-life experiences of struggle, heartache, and loss into a wonderful narrative of faith, hope, and the joy that can come through it all.

• Can you really bond with an adopted child, a foster child, or an older children?
• What is it like to lose a child after you have poured your heart and soul into his or her life?
• Can you love an adopted or foster child as much as a biological child?
• What is an orphanage really like?
• How about fertility treatments, are they actually that bad?
• Why don't people just adopt? What's the big deal?

Chasing Kites answers all of these questions and more. Going from zero to four adopted children through a Colombian orphanage and then from four to seven through the US Foster Care System, Rachel writes a masterful memoir of the good, the bad, and the ugly with purpose-driven life lessons learned from each.

If you have ever experienced loss, grief, or heartache this book is for you. If you are struggling to create a family or to blend a family, this book is for you. If you are trying to support someone you love through any of these things, this book is for you. Lose yourself in this delicious tale of love both lost and found.

©2017 Rachel McCracken (P)2017 Rachel McCracken

Loved the story until the end

Wow! I thought this was an amazing story, and it was until the end where the authors struggle with mental illness and need for a psychologist was made so clear. #1 the entire deal with giving up the sibling group, 2 chasing IVF when her plate was full and prayers were answered, not once but twice against medical recommendations and then later when she said even 15 years later she struggled with infertility as apart of her journey makes it crystal clear that the author should have got therapy early on. I think its VERY VERY important that any family that chooses to foster through infertility be mandated to psych eval around this, and this is a pristine example of why.

As someone with a counseling background, I saw a lot of red flags on this author's behavior around foster care. We aren't talking abuse tendency but she needed a lot more self-work and soul-searching before taking on the sibling group and foster kids. My hope is that one day foster care will come far enough that these services can be made available, and mandated, for folks like this who indeed do have love to give, but should be in the right place to do so.

I strongly hope the author has since received the help she needs, as I am sure it shows up in her parenting and relationships. I was disappointed in her behavior around the second round of IVF (guess what, you can donate embryos to another couple) and many things she stated and I felt very bad for her husband. He was victim to her trauma many times over throughout this book.

I highly recommend

For anyone struggling through infertility or considering foster care or adoption, I highly recommend this book. I found this very encouraging and insightful for the journey I have ahead. It eases my mind knowing that others have been down this path and been successful.

One of my favorite reads! !!

Love this story. It's a great read for women who are struggling from losing a child or suffering from infertility. Gives hope that you can move on and have a happy future if you just try and move forward. Gives you a good insight on what it's like to adopt children and what they are going through, as well as mixing adopted children with biological children. It feels like a very honest story.

good story

I struggled with the end because after all that she did and struggled with she went forward with the very expensive IVF . I am struggling with infertility and cannot afford IVF. as if all her adopted children wasn't enough she still did IVF. she talks about her kids wanting the baby! ok come on here!!!! I was encouraged at the begging of her story and she killed all the encouragement at the end.

Good book

It was a good book but the conclusion the author came too I didn’t agree with but I’m not in her shoes so the book is worth listening too