Adoption Question Answered

Heidi, from over at The Joys of parenting Almost Twins had a question for me. If you want to check her blog out, she is on my side bar under Adopting Stories.

Heidi asked, "What did your parents tell you growing up about your adoption?" and "Did what they told you make it easier or harder to accept?".

My father really plays a huge role in answering this question. My mother does to, but I think my father came up with the ideas.

My father would always tell me that I was special, a gift from God. He would tease that I was "unleaded" and my older sisters (bio to my parents) were "regular"!

The whole family actually played a role in answering those questions. When my sisters had friends over, more times then not, the friends would ask, "Why does she have dark hair and you guys have blond?". My sisters would respond, "she's adopted". It usually ended there, but if more questions came from it, it was always handled positively. I remember traveling to Washington, D.C. as a child and visiting the House of Representatives office. He was not there, but I remember the ladies in his office (has a ton) asking the same very question. It was at times embarrassing to be pointed out, especially to strangers, but sometimes ignorance is bliss!

I think it made it easier to accept my beginnings! Remember that being adopted is not a disease. It is a once-in-a-life time occurrence. You should always refer to your children as having been adopted rather then they are adopted! I also had to work through loss, rejection and acceptance throughout my life. I think the one single event that help me really be proud of my beginnings and situation was when we adopted Nico.

I hope that this answered Heidi's question. If anyone has a question, if you haven't figured it out by now, I love talking about adoption. I'm here to answer questions - ask away!!