A family’s adoption story is a powerful way to share the joy of adoption with their children. Whether your child is young or older, hearing about how you started your adoption journey will help them to feel more connected to your family and understand their own place in it.
Adoption is complex and can trigger a range of emotions in adopted kids. They may struggle to understand the choices made by their birth parents, and they may worry that their birth parents don’t love them. They may even fantasize about their birth parents as movie stars or celebrities. These feelings are completely normal, and it’s important to be open and honest about adoption with them.
Talking about adoption with your kids early on will help ease them into it and make it a natural part of their lives as they grow. This is especially important for babies, who can’t yet fully comprehend the details of their adoption story. Read books that explain the adoption process and use them to initiate conversations with your baby or toddler.
As your child gets older, it will be more likely that they ask about their birth family. Make sure to keep channels of communication open, and if you have an open adoption with visits, your child will be able to get answers to their questions directly from their birth parent.
It’s also important to remember that adopted kids have suffered trauma in their short lives, no matter how they entered the world. Reminding them that their adoptive parents love them and have accepted them into their family is key to helping them heal and become confident adults.