6 Tips on How to Tell Your Child They Were Adopted
4. How to familiarize them with the idea of adoption?
You can take help from books like “Why Was I Adopted,” by Carole Livingston. If you read such books to your kids at an early age, it will help them understand the concept in a positive way. You can use techniques like storytelling, role playing, etc. to explain the adoption process. Another thing that can prove helpful is if you make a scrapbook with pictures from their early age and help them understand what a wonderful thing adoption is.
5. Tell them that they are loved
Adopted kids often feel that they were given away because they were not loved and that they were adopted out of pity. It is extremely important that you tell them how much they are loved and how proud and happy you are to have them in your life.
6. Be prepared for the child’s reaction
Before having THE talk with the child, be prepared mentally for a reaction that you do not think is good. Think of some questions that your child may ask and have simple and clear answers for them. If the child gets very confused or upset during the conversation, then try to keep your calm and be sensitive. It may so happen that the child may not react when you tell him/her all this and the reaction may come later. Also, you will need to have a lot of patience because the child may ask about adoption again and again and may want to discuss it for some days.
