Adoption is a beautiful selfless act that represents love for a child, the blending of a family, and providing a loving home for a child in need. For adoptive parents, this process may signify a way to grow their family, perhaps in ways they could not do on their own. For a pregnant woman contributing to the adoption, the process serves to provide her baby with the best life possible that she may not be able to provide herself at that time. For the adoptee, adoption can represent a safe and stable home with a family that chooses them to love. There are many types of adoption, such as open vs. closed, domestic vs. international, as well as transracial and same-sex adoptions. According to the Adoption Network, one out of every 25 U.S. families with children have an adopted child. Approximately 7 million Americans are adopted including 1.5 million children, or about one out of every 50 children. Likewise, each year there are about 135,000 children adopted in the United States. Among private adoptions, over 60% of children were placed with their adoptive families within one month of birth. The average age of children waiting to be adopted is 8 years old.
The process of adoption impacts the lives of everyone involved. While adoption serves to be an act of love, there can be difficulties inherent in the transition as well. The adopting family needs to work toward building trust, communication, and a sense of comfort for the child they are bringing into their home. The adopted child may experience identity issues, alienation, struggles with low self-esteem, or a sense of loss or grief related to their birth family. The adoptee may also long to know more about their biological family and personal history that led to their adoption, which may be difficult to navigate for the adopting family or due to limited resources. As a result of these psychological impacts, it is important to help an adoptee cope by encouraging the child to be patient with themselves and listen to their own needs. An adoptee would benefit from exploring their interests, recognizing strengths, seeking out a supportive community, and reaching out to others for help when needed. By having ongoing, open lines of communication within the adopted family unit, all family members can feel heard, supported, and understood to benefit their mental health and emotional functioning through this life-long journey as a blended family.
In spite of some known difficulties as with any big life decision, adoption offers a number of positive traits, benefits, and long-term positive outcomes as well. For instance, adoptees often experience positive impacts such as a stable home environment, improved mental health and behaviors, and success in their personal and academic endeavors. A majority of adopting families exhibit strong involvement in the lives of their adopted children, such as reading to them regularly during childhood, financial stability, and support for extracurricular activities. Research has shown that additional advantages among adopted children include better physical health, good school performance, and access to resources that non-adopted children often did not have. Likewise, adoption is an intrinsically fulfilling process for the family because they are able to expand their love as parents, build upon the foundation of a loving home, and share their hearts openly by uniting people into a family unit.
For anyone starting their journey with adoption, it is important to have mental health support such as self-help and peer groups, therapy or counseling. Likewise, parents interested in adopting also endure home visits, interviewing, and readiness evaluations made up of psychological testing. If you or a loved one are wanting to adopt, Dr. Ermshar & Associates offers services that include adoption readiness evaluations often required by adoption agencies.