Adoption has been around for a long time, however the circumstances and ways that families can adopt have changed a lot.
If you research the history of adoption, you will find a few things. 1.) Kids were put on Orphan trains that traveled from city to city and then at stops they were put up on a table and actioned off. 2.) There were orphanages that held the babies for rich folks to come rescue.
We have come a long way in a short amount of time. While there are still orphanages in some countries, here in the US, we have a different system. You can adopt through the foster care system, through an attorney, or through an agency. You can choose open or closed adoptions.
When my hubby and I began our adoption journey, we were going to go through the state. We went to several classes and filled out a lot of paperwork. We had to put this process on hold because my hubby got a job in a different state and we moved. We decided last summer to start the process again and our agency talked a lot about positive adoption language.
Here are a few of the items that are important to note. I love this photo that I pinned from Pinterest, from AdoptionMamaBlog.com!! It explains more!
And concerning my son, who is bi-racial. We are choosing to not call him “food” makes to describe his ethnicity, we are simply calling him bi-racial as he is two races, both black and white. He is not half African American and half Caucasian, he is black and white. We will raise him to love both races and will give him culture and history from both. He will always know he was adopted, loved and treasured. Each of our four kids have very different birth stories, and are loved the same.
I hope you will consider the positive adoptive language when you talk about adoption with your friends and family. It really does make a difference!
