As foster parents for over ten years, we love children, and want to open our home to those in need.

Providing care for our neurodivergent foster child has stretched and challenged us—we’ve had to be creative in giving our foster child instructions for relatively simple tasks. It’s also a matter of patience and understanding. In our family, our foster and biological child both understand that there are no separate rules for the two of them. We work hard at applying this consistently in their daily lives, with the hope that they will mature into useful people in the community, and contribute towards society.

Throughout the journey of fostering, we’ve learnt that it’s not enough to just foster. We’ve learnt how to become advocates for our children, and made it a point to keep ourselves updated on new research and findings on neurodiversity, new ways of caregiving, self-care and personal management.

To new foster parents or couples that are thinking about fostering, here’s our advice: Have faith and take it one day at a time. Not everything works as perceived. Be ready to embark on a journey where you may foster neurodivergent children. Singapore requires more foster parents to foster neurodivergent children and children with hidden disabilities.

There will be challenges, but we celebrate the moments of victory and cherish other growth moments. Find a like-minded network of friends and support groups so that you are not alone. Our foster children, with their diverse needs, came into our lives, and left footprints in our hearts. Our lives have never been the same.

This saying has resonated with us throughout our entire fostering journey: “Parenthood requires love, not DNA.”