Post-Adoption E-Magazine, August 2012
Post-Adoption Announcements
Still Searching? Announcing Adoption.com's all new Registry!
No more guessing and searching. Let the site work for you with new features and notifications. And all for just $9.99 per year! Take a look at all the new upgrade features.
Our new Premium Service will make it faster and easier to post your information and search. With new automated search features and notifications the information will come to you. Plus you will be able to see who is searching for you!
We hope you will consider upgrading your Profile. For just $9.99 per year you can have all the upgraded features available in the Registry. As a special thank you we are also including a copy of our Search & Reunion E-Book with helpful tips and recommendations.
Check out all the Adoption.com Reunion Registry has to offer and sign-up today!
Photolisting: Now is the perfect time to raise foster and adoption awareness. If you have your own blog or website, consider adding our Photo Listing Widget to help raise awareness of foster children nationwide.
Would you like to help more children from your agency get adopted faster? Click here for a form to add children to our photolisting. This service is FREE to all states and includes a team of technical support and customer service staff to maintain the Photolisting.
Don't see any children from your state? Please contact your local officials to let them know you would like to see children from your state.
Blogging: Interested in Blogging? This is the perfect month to share your story. We're currently looking for guest bloggers for the following categories: Adoptive Parenting and Sibling Adoption.
Explaining Adoption To Your Child
Because adoption can be a touchy subject, it can be difficult to explain adoption to your child, especially if your child is adopted. Do you tell your child that s/he was adopted? Do you let him/her find out on his/her own? When do you tell him/her? How do you explain it? These are all relevant questions, and there isn't one right answer for everyone. Because every situation is different, every answer will be different, too. Before you act, it's important that you explore your options and consider the needs of your child. Here are a few tips to help you through it.
Age and Comprehension Level - When deciding if your child is ready to learn about his or her adoption, you must first analyze the age and comprehension level of your child. You can tell your child at any age, but you'll need to find ways to explain it that your child will understand. And that can be the tough part. Adoption can be a complicated situation full of many positive and negative emotions, and that can make it difficult to understand at any age.
Maturity Level - While it's important that your child has the appropriate comprehension level, you may also want to consider his/her maturity level. Once you've told your child that s/he was adopted, how will your child handle that information physically, emotionally, and mentally? You don't want to devastate your child, so keep your child's maturity level in mind as you share information and explain the nature of his/her placement.
Prepare for Reaction - You may not know exactly how your child will react to the news, but you can probably guess. Prepare for that reaction by preparing answers, explanations, and details that can help your child understand what you're telling him/her. If you think your child will be angry or depressed or just needs time alone after, make sure s/he has that needed environment. That could mean making sure siblings aren't home at the time, at least until your child can process the information.
An On-Going Process - Explaining adoption to your child is an ongoing process. One sit-down with your child won't be enough. Questions will continue to arise and confusion will set in. Your child may come to you with his/her questions or s/he may hold it all inside. That's why it's important for you to regularly ask your child if s/he needs to sit down and talk or ask questions. Create an open environment for discussion.
Explaining adoption to your child can be a terrifying situation. You don't want him/her to feel unloved, abandoned, or confused as to why placement happened. But these feelings and emotions are natural. The only way to get past them is to deal with them appropriately and healthily. As a parent, you have the responsibility to help your child deal with the sometimes-unsettling news. Be involved, be supportive, and be understanding, and the rest you two can do together.
Post-Adoption Blogs from AdoptionBlogs.com
Older Mom Realities
Recently I told Dear Hubby that I don’t feel my age. I can’t believe I’m a 53 year old. On the inside, I’m like 32. He said on the inside he is still a teen-ager. I knew that. I tell people I have 5 kids but everyone knows it’s really 6.... more
Horse Therapy for Rad-ishes
I took my daughter for horse therapy yesterday, and it was fascinating. There is a whole philosophy out there that certain horses (Missouri Fox Trotters to be exact) have an unusually smooth gait that is healing to RAD brains....more
Post-Adoption Community, News & Events
Adoptee Support - Can I Ever Feel That I Belong Somewhere?
Birth and Adoptive Family Relationships - Why are they so cruel and why cant I just be mean back advice??
Birth and Adoptive Family Relationships - My birth father's WIFE
Add your non-marketing adoption related event at no cost. Get started today by registering for an account.
Post-Adoption Tip of the Month
It's time for back to school, which can bring both negative and positive emotions. Your child may get a lot of teasing or questions about his/her adoption. Sit down with your child and talk about it before school starts. It can give your child that much-needed confidence boost to take the school year head-on.
In Your Words
"I was a sophomore in high school and the dad was a freshman. We were dating behind everyone's backs, for his dad was my teacher. So in September I found out I was having his baby we hid it and had planned on me having an abortion. But in the end I could not go through with it. So one day I walked into class and walked over to his desk and told him and sat in my seat. He looked at me and then gave us the pop quiz, and said nothing to me for a week.
"Then I went to their house for dinner. And him and his wife gave us a binder of couples in the area looking to adopt a newborn. We looked them over and picked one. Then his mother took me to the doctor. I was by that point 11 weeks. We called the adoptive couple and told them we would like to set up a meeting. As everything fell into place I was growing huge until one day everyone found out who the father was. Class became worse, and I nearly dropped out of school. I was only 28 weeks. I did not, in the end. On June 11th I gave birth to a wonderful baby girl. I get pictures every other week and see her once a month. The dad and I are still together and thinking about marriage after college." - Ella
Have a question? Comment? In Your Words is your way to reach out to the adoption community and get tips from others and share important information.
Share Your Thoughts with Us
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