Special Kinds of Adoption

Understanding and Supporting the Unique Needs in Kinship Adoption
Kinship adoptive families are formed both by choice and often out of necessity. A family member has an unintended pregnancy and another family member agrees to adopt the baby - to keep the child in the family and/or often times filling the dream of a single or infertile couple who are happy to step up to the plate. Read more >>

Love is Not Enough: Parenting in Transracial Adoption
Without question, Caucasian parents raising adopted children of a different race face the important challenge of ensuring that their children grow up with knowledge and pride in their racial/cultural heritage - keys to a cohesive, positive identity and self-esteem. This involves commitment to open communication that parents must make a priority. For many parents, this means making changes in their lifestyle and facing their any feelings of discomfort or fear. Read more >>

Special Kind of Adoption: Jewish Adoptive Families
Jewish parents must carefully consider how they will communicate respect for the religion of their child's birth family. How will they address their child's questions about his birth religion and about how the birth parents may feel about their child being raised in a Jewish home? Formation of a cohesive identity can be a difficult challenge for all adoptees. For adoptees not born Jewish or who are of a different race or culture, feeling connected with the Jewish community - the "clan" can be especially daunting when outside messages question that identity. Read more >>

Gay and Lesbian Adoptive Families
Adoption presents many challenges for families. All adoptive families struggle with society's bias about being "second-best" to biologically related families. Gay and lesbian adoptive families face an extra layer of challenge. Even within the adoption community, it is well known that very often, gay and lesbians face the struggle of being perceived as "last resort" families for adopted children. Gay and lesbian adoptive families not only have to cope with the challenges presented by adoption, including racism if the adoption is transracial/transcultural, but certainly discrimination by people who do not approve of their sexual orientation, known as heterosexism. Read more >>

Same Family, Different Stories
Families with more than one adopted child obviously have children with different stories about how they became part of the family. One of the most important challenges for parents relates to their concerns about sibling relationships and is dependent on each child's unique temperament and personality. Because sibling relationships are very complex, adoptive parents with more than one child need to diminish any comparisons that might imply there is a difference in children's status or role in the family. Read more >>

Birth Country Connections for Families with International Adoption
There are several aspects of adoptive parenting that are different from the usual mothering and fathering, and one is the normal and necessary task of helping children make connections to their heritage. Heritage is the legacy given to us through our biological roots and typically, adopted children do not share genes and ancestors with their parents, instead they have their own unique heritage. Children, who have been adopted internationally, bring the additional gift of a different ethnic heritage, making their families multicultural. Read more >>

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