November 11, 2015

Adoption News Roundup

There have been many great articles circulating recently, no doubt inspired by National Adoption Month. Here are some of the ones we’ve been reading!

This mother shares the most common questions she receives as a family-by-adoption, and how she answers them. Although articles like this are often shared in frustration (“Can you believe someone even deigned to ask me that?!) she notes that people generally are very curious about adoption and perhaps struggle with the right ways to ask certain questions. She shares her thoughts to spread awareness, which is such a helpful, positive way to approach an issue that does plague many members of the adoption community.

“What’s the point of adopting a 17 year-old kid?” A great question, given the nature of this year’s National Adoption Month (adopting older children from foster care). The short answer: just because they only have a year in the system, doesn’t mean they don’t still deserve, or need, a family for life.

This family met their daughter just minutes after she was born, and it was captured on video!

There’s no question: parents who are adopting want and deserve the same reaction to their announcement as a couple who announces they’re pregnant. This mother shares her experience wanting others to be as joyful about her adoption as they are about other people’s pregnancies. “To be honest, I had always known that might not happen. The reality seems to be that a pregnancy announcement always trumps an adoption announcement among those in the non-adoption world. I know there would have been different reactions if we were expecting the old-fashioned way. And if hell froze over and we were to get pregnant after adopting? I imagine the enthusiasm would be on the I-know-this-is-what-you-really-wanted! level.”

Honest conversations and transracial adoption.

All children grow and develop at different speeds, but there are certain red flags you can watch for if your child hasn’t developed a certain skill by a specific age. Parents.com shares a rundown of these developmental milestones — a super important article to keep on hand.

“Good thing I ignored your adoption advice.”

“The day my daughter realized she wasn’t white.” Did any other parents in transracial families have this experience?