Adoption

Explaining Adoption to a Child: Handling Sensitive Situations In many cases, parents can tell their children that birthparents made a positive choice to place them for adoption. But sometimes the situation was not so upbeat or easy to explain. H...

Explaining Adoption to a Teenager It's important that children know they were adopted before they reach adolescence; it's too turbulent a time to suddenly surprise them with the news. Even if your teenage child already knows, however, he may sti...

When You Are Turned Down as an Adoptive Parent Rejection doesn't happen much in adoption, because most families who think they might get rejected by an agency drop out of the home study process before it ends. But once in a while, a family is su...

Explaining Adoption to a School-Aged Child As children grow, they start to ask even tougher questions about adoption. For example, if the birthmother was poor, why didn't someone give her money so she could be a parent? Or, if she wasn't ready t...

Explaining Adoption to a Young Child A simple story about adoption can suffice for the child who is 3 or 4. Most children like to hear their “adoption story.” When my son was little, he loved his story. He wanted to be told again and again h...

Introducing Your Adopted Transracial Child How will your family members react if you decide to adopt a child who looks very different from them and from you? They may be shocked and upset, or they may be accepting and positive. Or, more likely, ...

Adoption: When Problems Occur with Birthparents Although your relationship with the birthparents may start out great, sometimes problems develop later on. Keep in mind that relationships with family members (including one's own parents) are some...

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Answering Questions About Your Adoption After you've adopted your child and introduced him or her to your family, friends, and acquaintances, be prepared for an onslaught of questions—some of them quite rude. For instance, don't be surprised i...

What is Readoption? In the case of intercountry adoptions, some countries issue a final adoption decree to the adoptive parents while they are in the country. But the parents may seek a readoption, an additional adoption in their home state beyo...

Getting Ready for Your Adopted Child Once it begins to sink in that you will actually be bringing a new person into your home and family, you'll start to think about just how much there is to do to prepare for him or her. I'll walk you through s...

Raising Your Adopted Child: Problems Adoptinfo An adoption issue is a problem that preoccupies and distresses an adopted child and is related to adoption. For example, fear that a birthparent might kidnap the child is an adoption issue. So what ...

Waiting for Your Adopted Child The wait is the hardest of all for you, the future adopter. Sure, other people can aggravate you with interminable questions, but you have an awful lot of questions, hopes, and fears yourself. So how do you manage ...

Birthmothers Who Change Their Minds About Adoption Probably the most intensely felt fear of adopters is that the birthmother will make an adoption plan—and then flip-flop and decide to raise the child herself. Very few birthmothers change thei...

Adoption: Meeting a BirthmotherSome agencies or attorneys (or other adoption arrangers) think it's a good idea for a woman to meet the people who want to adopt her child. Some arrangers recommend a meeting on a first-name basis, whereas others f...

"Open" or "Closed" Adoption? Familybuilding Tips In an open adoption, the adoption arranger often creates a contract that spells out what is expected of each side; for example, how often photographs and letters will be exchanged, and how they wi...

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Prenatal Adoption Information If the child you're planning to adopt isn't yet born, whatever information you can gain about the pregnant woman and about the child's prenatal condition is important. Researchers are discovering that prenatal condi...