Talking with young children about adoption
Discusses how young children make sense of the fact that they are adopted with 20 accounts of parents talking to their children about adoption
xi, 257 pages ; 25 cm
9780300051780, 9780300063172, 0300051786, 0300063172
27147080
Introduction: From Telling to Sharing: Changes in Adoption Practice
Ch. 1. Adoption and the World of the Parent
Ch. 2. Adoption Research
Ch. 3. Adoption and the World of the Young Child
Ch. 4. Stories of Parents and Children Talking Together about Adoption. Teddy and Anna. Teddy: I don't want [my birthfather] to find me. He'd take me away. He'd change his mind. Anna: You know, [in adoption] somebody wins and somebody loses. Laura and Maya. Laura: Mommy, you're not really really my mommy, are you? Maya: Let's call [my birthmom] Forsythia. Jeff and Melissa. Jeff: Why didn't my real mom want me? ... I think she didn't like me. Melissa: I was always wanted. My parents who adopted me wanted me even before I was born. Ian and Elizabeth. Ian: How fast did you go, Mommy, to get me in the car? Elizabeth: Then I was in Daddy's tummy! Mehera. Mehera: Adopting means you love a baby very much and go find her. Kathy and Aaron. Kathy: Who is right, Mom, my birthmom or Jane [who will keeps her baby]? Aaron: It's okay, Mom. You have me now. Daniel Joo Bin: Family Lost and Found. Daniel: You're Oma. That means "Mother" in Korean. Virginia and Jonathan. Virginia: Mom, why would a lady who grew a baby give the baby away? Jonathan: I so sad I didn't grow in your uterus, Mommy. Nora. Nora: Some kids have lots of mothers. Max and Lani: Twins in an Open Adoption. Max: Okay, Sis, first I'll marry our friend; then I'll marry you, and one can be the birthmom and one can be the adopted mom. Lani: I wish I had been in your womb. Paul and Steven. Paul: Joey is lucky because his mom is three things
his mom, his birthmother, and his teacher. Why can't you be three things? Steven: When will I ever see my sister again? Margaret and William: Adoption as "No Big Deal" A Birth and Adoptive Father. Richard: Where the kid came from seems sort of bookish, abstract
Appendix A: Two Families Who Decided Not to Talk with Their Young Children about Adoption. Eric: One-Time Telling. Jeremy and Chloe: Deciding to Postpone Telling until Latency
Appendix B: Adoptive Comments, Questions, and Play Sequences of Adopted Children in the Stories, Arranged by Age