Written from foster mothers' perspectives, this book voices the often painful experiences of contemporary U.S. foster mothers as they struggle to mother and care-work in the face of exploitative social relations with the state.

1.Introduction -- 2. Portrait of a foster mother (1) : "They're all my children, they're all my family" -- 3. Mothers and workers : becoming a foster mother -- 4. "I'm their mother" : fostering, motherhood, and the construction of kinship -- 5. Managing difference, coping with delegitimation: foster mothers as nonmothers -- 6. Mothering work and the art of fostering -- 7. Familial changes : integrating foster children into the foster family -- 8. "They picked up the baby and the baby was gone" : mothering and loss -- 9. Portrait of a foster mother (2) : motherhood, loss, and social action -- 10. "I wanna make it through the week" -- 11. Conclusion.