60% of Americans have a personal connection to adoption

adoption statisticThat seems like a low number to me. I wonder what criteria they use to determine a personal connection. It seems like 90% of the time I tell someone I’m adopted they tell me they have a personal connection to adoption. My colleague told another colleague that I was adopted and he had a lot of questions for me because he had just adopted a girl. It was a different circumstance and not the typical adoption of a newborn. He had adopted a family member’s daughter when her mother died of cancer. The girl is 8 years old. Of course these are awful circumstances for the child but she will probably not suffer from the typical feelings of abandonment most adoptees feel at least not in the traditional sense. She may wonder why her mom had to leave her by passing away but she was not given up so it is a little different. Yet as we continued to talk, I found that many of the challenges remain the same. How can they make this young girl feel like she fits in and is a natural part of their family unit? Will the young girl appreciate what they’ve done and agree that it was for the best? I told him as I would tell any adoptive parent no matter what the circumstances of the adoption – love her and don’t treat her any differently than you treat your other children. That is the foundation for building confidence and trust and if you have that, you have the foundation for happiness. When all else fails, seek counseling because life is too short to live with worry, anxiety and stress.

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