Something many adoptive parents do not expect or are unprepared for is adoptive parent guilt. This occurs most commonly in the case of domestic adoptions, because you often meet the birth mother and are reminded that she is a human being just like yourself.
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Children who are raised by their birth parents are surrounded by their history. Adoptees often experience gaps in time and memories no matter their age at the time of adoption. While open adoptions are becoming more common, not all adoptees have access to their birth parents, and without proper documentation of their life story, adoptees are left wondering about their own history which may lead to them having a very fragile sense of who they are.
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Adopted children are likely to experience medical or mental health issues, and it is important that prospective adoptive parents fully understand the implications of these health issues, so they can care for their adoptive child in the best way possible.
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Whether your children are biological or are adopted, at some point in their lives they will have questions about their family history. Researchers have developed the “do you know” scale which asks children approximately 20 questions about their family history to determine how much they know. The more children know about their families history has proven to show children have a stronger sense of control over their lives, much higher self-esteem, and a more successful family dynamic — but what do you do when you cannot tell your adopted children about their family history?
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With more than 400,000 children in the foster care system, there are approximately 120,000 currently waiting to be adopted to their forever family. Adoption is a very tedious, expensive process that requires hours of training, evaluations, and lots of time. It is no secret that paying for adoption in the United States can be expensive. The question that circles many people’s minds however is, should you ask for money to help pay for your adoption?
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The process to adopt a child can be quite lengthy with mountains of paperwork, one or more home study, and a court case for a judge to determine the final answer. While many adoptive parents wish to adopt one child at a time, there are several who desire parenting siblings, more specifically twins.
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In the case of open adoption, the adoptive parents and birth mother will know each other. Whether or not adoptive parents and expectant parents should become friends is ultimately up to both parties, but they should be aware that building a relationship between adoptive parents and expectant parents has both risks and benefits.
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The adoption attorney is an integral part of the adoption process, so it’s important to choose one you can work well with and who you can trust to do their job right. After all, they’re helping you build your family and ensuring all of the legal aspects of that are covered. However, it can be difficult to know which attorney is right for you. How can you be sure you’ve found a qualified attorney to help with your adoption?
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Many prospective adoptive parents find the most intimidating part of the adoption process to be the home study, as they think someone is coming in to pass judgement on where and how they live. In actuality, the home study is mostly just to make sure you can provide a safe and healthy environment for the child, and only a small portion of the home study involves your actual home.
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One of the hardest parts of any adoption process is the waiting. It can seem to take forever to get the financials in order, to process the paperwork, to get your profile ready — and then you still have to wait to find a birthmother match. The waiting to adopt during the holidays can feel interminable, and perhaps no more so during the holiday season. Below are some ways to help manage the stress of waiting during the holidays.
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