15 Movies About Foster Care and Adoption That You Should Watch

Nov 7, 2024

Every year, thousands of children enter foster care, each with a unique story. They need loving foster parents to provide them with safe and stable homes!

While no movie can fully capture the complex reality of foster care and adoption, films have a special way of opening our hearts and minds to different experiences.

Below there are 15 memorable movies about foster care. They explore the joys, challenges, and life-changing moments of foster care and adoption.

From heartwarming family comedies to touching dramas, these films help us better understand the journey of children in care, adoptive parents, and the amazing people who support them.

Whether you're a foster parent, considering adoption, or simply want to learn more about foster care, these movies offer different perspectives on creating a family.

While some may take creative liberties for storytelling purposes, they all share important messages about love, belonging, and the true meaning of family.

So grab some popcorn, maybe a few tissues, and join us as we explore these touching stories that shine a light on foster care and adoption!

1. Instant Family (2018)

This movie offers a refreshingly honest peek behind the curtain at modern foster-to-adopt journeys.

When Pete and Ellie decide to become foster parents, they quickly learn that the system isn't just about cute babies. It's about real kids with real histories, including the three siblings they welcome into their home.

Based on a true story, this heartwarming comedy nails the details that foster parents will recognize:

• The overwhelming first days
• The mandatory classes
• The complex relationships with biological parents
• The emotional rollercoaster of loving kids who may not stay forever

2. Angels in the Outfield (1994)

This movie tenderly portrays one of the most difficult aspects of foster care - a child's hope for reunification with their birth parent.

While living in a foster home, Roger makes a wish that he believes will bring his father back to him. Through his journey, the film sensitively shows how children in care often struggle with loyalty while forming new attachments.

While the story has magical elements, it truthfully captures the emotional reality many kids in care face when learning that sometimes the best family isn't the one you were born into.

3. Martian Child (2007)

Few films capture the unique challenges of adopting an older child from foster care quite like this one.

David, a recently widowed science fiction writer, adopts a young boy who's been in the system so long he's created an elaborate coping mechanism -believing he's from Mars.

The movie beautifully demonstrates how trauma and neglect can affect the behavior of children in care and how adoptive parents need to create safe spaces for healing.

Watch as David learns that traditional parenting methods don't always work with kids who've experienced trauma. This movie also emphasizes that successful adoptive parenting often means meeting children exactly where they are.

4. The Blind Side (2009)

This true story dives deep into the complexities of fostering an older teen - something many families hesitate to do.

When Michael Oher enters the foster care system as a teenager, he faces challenges many older foster youth encounter: educational gaps, unstable housing, and a system that often gives up on teens too quickly.

The Tuohy family's journey from temporary guardians to foster parents to adoptive family shows how permanent connections can form at any age.

5. Annie (2014)

Foster care takes center stage in this modern retelling, offering an updated look at the foster system's challenges.

Unlike the Depression-era original, this version tackles contemporary issues children in care face:

• Aging out of the system
• Navigating between foster homes
• Dealing with foster parents who are in it for the wrong reasons (like Miss Hannigan's foster care payments)

Through Annie's story, we see how children in care often maintain hope for reconnection with birth parents while simultaneously forming new bonds - a common emotional struggle in foster care.

The film also explores a relevant theme - how social media can affect children in care.

6. Lion (2016)

This powerful true story explores the complex emotions of international adoption and the unique identity questions faced by transracial adoptees.

Saroo's journey highlights how many adoptees (especially those adopted across cultures) struggle with dual identities and the pull of two families.

The film masterfully portrays aspects of adoption rarely discussed in mainstream media:

• The grief adoptive parents feel for the loss of their child
• The complexity of searching for birth families
• Adoption isn't just a single event but a lifelong journey of identity formation

Through young Saroo's immediate experience in the care system and adult Saroo's search, we see how early trauma and separation impact children long after adoption. Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman bring nuance to these layered themes of belonging, identity, and family bonds.

7. Second Best (1994)

Unlike many glossier foster care films, this quiet drama captures the day-to-day reality of fostering a traumatized child.

When James decides to foster John, he encounters challenges many first-time foster parents face:

• A child's fierce loyalty to absent birth parents
• The impact of past abuse on current behavior
• The sometimes painfully slow process of building trust

The film shows how foster parents selflessly set aside their expectations and egos. James learns that being "second best" in John's heart might be what the boy needs to heal.

It's a masterclass in depicting the patient, persistent love often required in foster care relationships.

8. Meet the Robinsons (2007)

While wrapped in whimsical time-travel adventure, this animated film tackles serious themes about life in the foster system.

Through Lewis's story, we see the impact of multiple failed adoptions. This impact includes the weight of rejection young children carry and the questions about birth parents that many children in care or adopted grapple with.

The movie uniquely addresses a fear many children in care share: That their past trauma or differences might make them "unadoptable."

What makes this film special is how it shows that sometimes the best foster and adoptive families aren't the ones we imagine for ourselves but the ones who love us for exactly who we are.

9. Losing Isaiah (1995)

This thought-provoking drama tackles one of the most complex situations in foster care and adoption: The tension between birth parents' rights and the attachments formed in foster/adoptive homes.

Through Isaiah's story, we see how substance abuse often leads to foster care placement, and the movie raises difficult questions about race and class in the foster care system. The film also explores a scenario many foster parents fear: What happens when birth parents who've recovered want their children back?

10. Despicable Me (2010)

While it takes a lighthearted approach, this animated film surprisingly tackles real issues faced in group home settings and adoption.

Margo, Edith, and Agnes represent different ways children cope with institutional care:

• Margo's protective older-sibling role (common in foster care)
• Edith's acting out as a defense mechanism
• Agnes's unfettered optimism despite her circumstances

The girls' initial placement with Gru mirrors how many foster-to-adopt situations begin - with parents who might not seem ideal on paper but who grow into the role.

The movie also shows how siblings in foster care fight to stay together, a crucial issue in real-world foster care where keeping siblings united is often challenging but vital.

11. Stuart Little (1999)

Beneath its charming exterior, this family film addresses key adoption themes through its creative premise.

The Little family's choice to adopt Stuart (despite his obvious differences) reflects the open-hearted approach needed in transracial and special needs care.

The movie tackles real adoption issues:

• Older sibling adjustment (George's initial resistance)
• Extended family acceptance (or lack thereof)
• The fear of being replaced when birth families surface

It's particularly good at showing how adoptive families often face public scrutiny and questioning, represented through the reactions Stuart and his family receive from others.

The film also emphasizes how successful adoptive families adapt to meet their new child's needs.

12. The Fosters (TV Series, 2013-2018)

While this is a series rather than a movie, it's revolutionized how foster care is portrayed in the media by showing the daily realities foster families face.

Through the Adams Foster family, viewers see accurate depictions of foster parent licensing, the impact of trauma on behavior, the complexity of sibling group placement, and the challenges of fostering LGBTQ+ youth - all topics rarely addressed in other media.

The show doesn't shy away from difficult subjects like failed reunifications, aging out of the system, and the mixed emotions children in care feel towards both biological and foster families.

It's particularly strong in showing how foster families navigate relationships with birth families and the child welfare system.

13. Manchester by the Sea* (2016)

This raw drama explores a less-discussed aspect of foster care - kinship care and guardianship following a family tragedy.

Through Lee's unexpected role as his nephew Patrick's guardian, the film shows how family members often step in to prevent children from entering the foster system. It honestly portrays the challenges many kinship caregivers face:

• Being unprepared for parenthood
• Navigating grief alongside the child
• Dealing with their trauma while trying to provide stability

The movie also highlights how the best placement for a child isn't always with the most obviously qualified caregiver but with the person who shares their history and understanding of loss.

Note:This film deals with very mature themes.

14. White Oleander (2002)

Few films capture the impact of multiple foster placements as powerfully as this movie.

Astrid's journey through various foster homes shows how each positive and negative placement shapes a child's development and worldview.

The movie unflinchingly depicts real challenges within the foster care system: placement instability, inappropriate relationships, the vulnerability of foster youth, and the way some children must become chameleons to survive.

It also shows how children in care often carry the weight of their birth parents' choices while trying to form new attachments.

Each foster home represents different ways the system can succeed or fail its youth, making it a powerful commentary on foster care despite its heavy themes.

15. Secrets & Lies (1996)

While primarily focused on adoption, this British drama examines the long-term impact of closed adoptions and the complexity of transracial placement. These issues are still relevant in today's foster care and adoption landscape.

Through Hortense's search for her birth mother, the film explores themes that many foster and adopted individuals face. These include questions of identity, the impact of racial differences in families, and the weight of family secrets.

It particularly resonates with foster care situations where children have been separated from their biological families.

The film's honest portrayal of class differences and family dynamics reflects issues that still affect many foster and adoptive placements today.

Get More Foster Care Stories From People Who Have Been There

Movies about foster care are an incredible way to explore different foster care stories.

However, it's hard to beat stories from real-life foster parents!

Get a sneak peek into the fostering world with Letters Written With Love, a compilation of letters from foster parents to the children in their care.

Get your free copy and experience the love, hope, and joy of foster parents who have been there.

Foster Care