There are different ways to build a family, and more and more families are choosing to adopt. Adoption can be a beautiful and rewarding experience for children and parents involved. But it's also a significant change for everyone involved, especially children.
If you're thinking about adopting, or if you're already in the process of adoption, you should involve your children in the journey. Read on to learn six tips to help prepare your children for an adopted sibling.
1. Explain the Adoption Process
You should explain the adoption process to your children. Let them know that you're working with an agency to find a child who needs a home. You should also let them know that there may be a long wait before the child comes home but that you're doing everything possible to make it happen as soon as possible.
2. Read Books About Adoption
Another way to prepare your child for an adopted sibling is to read books about adoption together. You can easily access books about adoption for children of all ages, so you're sure to find one that's perfect for your family.
Adoption books can help your child understand the adoption process and what it means to have an adopted sibling. It can also help them know that there are all kinds of families and that every family is unique. Lastly, adoption books can help your children see adoption as a positive and rewarding experience.
3. Involve Your Child in the Adoption Journey
Adoption can be a long and complicated process, so it's essential to involve your child in the journey as much as possible. This can help them feel more connected to the process and less anxious about the changes.
There are different ways to involve your child in the adoption process. For example, you can involve them in the decision-making process, keep them updated on your progress, and let them know what they can expect. You can also involve them in the practical aspects of adoption, such as choosing their new sibling's name, picking out clothes and toys, and helping decorate their new sibling's room.
If you can, take them with you to meet their new sibling before they come home, then you should. This will help them feel more prepared and excited for the new arrival.
4. Prepare Your Child for Changes
Adoption can bring many changes to a family, and you should prepare your child for those changes. Talk to them about how their life might change, such as a new home, a new school, or a new sibling.
You should also talk to them about the changes they might see in you, such as more work, less free time, or less sleep. Help them understand that these changes are normal and that you'll still be there for them.
5. Be Realistic
Adoption can be a beautiful and rewarding experience, but remember that it's not always easy. There will be challenges and obstacles along the way, and it's essential to be prepared for them. Talk to your children about the challenges you might face and how you'll overcome them together as a family.
6. Give it Time
Adoption can be a big adjustment for everyone involved. It can take several months for a family to feel like a cohesive unit. There will be good and bad days, but you should remember that it takes time to build a family. With patience and love, your family will eventually come together and thrive.
Adoption is beautiful, and following these tips can help make the transition smoother for everyone involved.
If you consider adoption, Adoption Angels can help. We're a full-service child-placing agency with over 45 years of experience. We offer expert guidance and fill you in on everything you need to know about the adoption process. Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can help you build your family.
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Hello & Thank You , My name is Kerstin, and I'm so grateful to you for considering me and my son Malakai as a possible match for you and your child. A single person might not have been your first thought for your child, but I have just as much support and love to give as a couple would have - or even more! My life is rich with family, friends, and opportunities. I have a successful career that provides my family with the resources to explore the world and experience new things. I would love the opportunity to share these wonderful experiences with your child. Malakai (Kai for short) was adopted at birth and is three years old. We have an open relationship with his birth mom and often send her pictures and videos. I am open and committed to whatever type of communication you would like. I want you to know that your child will always know their adoption story and the love you have for them. I am happy to answer any questions you have so that you can make the best decision for you and your baby. As you'll see in this profile, I have a deep love and appreciation for all different cultures, and I love to learn about people and places all over the world. Travel has been a big part of my life, and I also appreciate and value diversity close to home. We live on a street with families of many different backgrounds, and the schools and businesses in our neighborhood also reflect that diversity. I love languages and have studied Spanish and Haitian Creole. The public elementary school closest to our home is a dual immersion bilingual school (Spanish and English). I would love for Malakai and any future child I might have to attend this school because I highly value bilingual language skills and the opportunity to build relationships with classmates and teachers of many different backgrounds. I am committed to honoring and valuing your child's cultural background and ensuring that it is an important part of their daily lives. I pray often for you and your journey. I thank God for you and your decision to consider adoption. I pray for God to give you peace and comfort. Thank you for taking the time to learn more about me and Malakai and see if we might be a good match for you and your child. With Love, Kerstin
Hello & Thank You , Just saying thank you isn't enough for us to express our gratitude for considering us to be adoptive parents. We cannot begin to understand how difficult this decision is and that it is not taken lightly. No matter your decision, you are in our thoughts and prayers. We are Amanda and Spencer. We have been together over ten years and have been married for three. From the very beginning of our relationship, we talked about starting a family, but God had different plans for us. Unfortunately, Amanda has faced health challenges that have led to infertility, which won't allow us to have our own biological children. Adoption has touched both our lives in meaningful ways. Spencer's mother was adopted, and she is ecstatic that we are pursuing this path. In addition, Spencer has two adopted cousins, and I have one as well. Both of our families are loving and supportive of our decision, and we are all ready to share unconditional love with a child. Since we both have relatives who were adopted, we believe it is important for your child to understand their adoption story from the very beginning. We look forward to sharing with your child just how special they and their birth family are to us. The relationship between a child and their birth family is significant, and we strongly support an open adoption. There is no such thing as too many people to love and support a child. Raised in the Catholic faith, we plan to instill the same values in our future child. We cherish faith, family, community, friendships, and love, and we will teach the importance of hard work and the achievements it can bring. With both our families and friends nearby, your child will be surrounded by a loving network of support. Thank you for the time to read our story and consider us as potential adoptive parents. We wish you peace on this journey and the very best for you and your child. Sincerely, Spencer & Amanda
Hello & Thank You , Thank you for giving us the opportunity to share a glimpse into our lives. First and foremost, we want to express our deepest gratitude, as being considered in your adoption journey means more to us than you may know. The love you have for your child is undeniable. Though we cannot know the challenges you are facing in making this decision, your love, strength, and courage stand out the most. We truly admire you. We are Luke and Cassi and our four-legged fur baby, Sully. We’ve been together for 16 years and married for 3. After years of infertility, adoption feels like the right path for us. From a young age, we always knew adoption would be part of our journey, and now, after much anticipation, we’re filled with excitement and hope. We truly believe the younger versions of us would be proud of the direction life has taken, and we are eager to open our hearts and home to a child. Adoption is a lifelong bond, and we promise to cherish it. We are committed to creating a safe, loving, and nurturing home where your child can grow, explore, and thrive. We will inspire curiosity, embrace individuality, and encourage them to follow their dreams. We will also surround your child with the people who will love them through life’s challenges and triumphs. Our home will be filled with love, laughter, and family traditions, including cozy nights by the fire, bedtime stories, adventures in our camper, and Sundays by the pool. They would always be encouraged to be their true selves, follow their passions, respect themselves and others, and always know they are valued. We will teach them kindness, empathy, and the importance of family. Most importantly, we will always talk openly and lovingly about the love and sacrifice that led you to choose adoption. We want your child to know how deeply they are loved, both by us and by you. Thank you again for taking the time to get to know us. If we have the opportunity to meet in the future, we would be excited to learn more about you. We know this is not an easy decision, and we are grateful for your consideration. We are keeping you in our thoughts and sending you strength and peace during this time. Sincerely, Luke & Cassi
Hello & Thank You , Our names are Zack and Lindsay, and we are so grateful that you're considering us to be a potential part of your adoption plan. We can't imagine how hard this is for you or what you're going through. We do understand there’s no way for us to truly grasp the weight of your decision, but we respect and admire your strength and courage. Through this letter and this book, we want to share a little about ourselves with you. We met in 2008, and it was love at first sight. After 6 months of dating, we got engaged and married in 2010. We knew early on in our marriage that we wanted to explore adoption to build a family, and we had lots of love to give. Over time, we grew together, strengthened our love, and prepared our lives and our home to provide a caring, nurturing environment for a new addition to our family. Our adoption journey was difficult due to our issues with infertility, but our motivation to adopt comes from a place of love and a desire to share that love by growing our family. In 2022, we were blessed with adopting a beautiful baby boy, Atlas, who is the light of our lives. It has been our privilege to watch him grow, learn, change, and develop. He’s shown us how wonderful and rewarding adoption can be, motivating us to continue our adoption journey. Atlas’s birth mom has become an integral part of our lives. We regularly share pictures and updates of all Atlas’s changes and activities, and we make sure that he’s aware that we’re sending updates to his birth mom so that as he grows, we can continue to share his adoption story with him. We feel it’s so important that Atlas’s birth mom gets to watch him develop, and we want you to know that we are open to whatever contact you would like. We are both driven and have many hobbies, including physical and outdoor activities, reading, cooking, and continuing education. For us, raising children means bringing the most important people in the world along with us on new adventures and learning new skills. We hope this book gives you a look into our lives, who we are as people, who we are as a couple, and who we are as a family. We are thinking of you and wish you well in all you do. Thank you for taking the time to get to know us. Sincerely, Zack & Lindsay
Hello & Thank You , First, we want to thank you for taking a look into our lives and reviewing our book. We can’t even begin to understand what you are going through, but we pray that God continues to give you strength and courage through all the emotions you are feeling. We know that you are a selfless woman just by knowing that you are choosing to create an adoption plan for your child. Our names are Jose and Daniella. We met each other in 2014, and we got married in 2016. A year later, we began trying to have a child of our own. After three years of seeing a fertility doctor and seven years of trying different treatments, we were unsuccessful. Jose and I want to expand our family, and we know adoption is the answer to our prayers. We both have siblings we grew up with, and we hope that we are able to add another sibling to expand our love and family in the near future. We want you to know that your child is already loved by so many, including grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and many more family members. We promise to raise your child with unconditional love, provide many life skills, compassion, respect, morals, and provide any education your child dreams of. We also believe in God and would love to raise your child knowing who God is. If you choose us to be part of your adoption plan, we can assure you that we will share your child’s adoption story with them from the very beginning. We will celebrate the love you have for them and honor the decision you made. Thank you once again for this opportunity to get to know us. This process has been one we prayed and cried about, as having a family of our own has been a difficult journey for us both. As you glance through our book, we pray that you see the love we share with each other, our families, our faith, and the joy we have for the future journey we have prayed about. Whichever decision you make, we want you to know that you will forever be in our prayers. Sincerely, Jose & Daniella
Hello & Thank You , Thank you for taking the time to view our photobook and consider us as adoptive parents for your baby. We are so excited to be adopting a baby and finally becoming parents. We know you will follow your heart and make the best choice in selecting the family for your baby to join. We are Kristin and Mark, and we have been together since November 2020, married in April 2022. When we first started dating, I shared with Mark that because of my reproductive issues, having a biological child might not be possible. He was very understanding and supportive and open to adoption as a way to start our family. Mark and I are surrounded by a huge support system on both of our sides, who cannot wait to have another child join the family. We have lots of nieces and nephews who are anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new cousin to play with. Our parents are looking forward to having another grandchild to spoil. Your child will be raised in a loving Christian home, guided by values of kindness, compassion, integrity, and the importance of family. They will be loved unconditionally and always have unwavering family support in all they choose to endeavor. We look forward to sharing our love of sports and music while encouraging them to explore their own passions. As we continue deepening our faith, we are committed to becoming more involved in church and look forward to attending regularly as a family. While growing up, we both dreamt of one day having our own family and a child to call us Mom and Dad. We can’t begin to understand how difficult this decision is for you. We are praying for strength and clarity during this time and know you will make the best decision. Thank you again for considering us to be the adoptive parents for your baby. It means the world to us. Sincerely, Mark & Kristin
Hello & Thank You , It’s so nice to “meet” you, we are Zack & Kal. We hope you feel welcomed and embraced by our family as you flip through these pages. Thank you for taking the time to get to know a bit about us. We admire your strength and courage, and we're grateful that you're considering turning such a difficult situation into a meaningful blessing. We can only imagine how overwhelming this decision may feel, and our hope is that, in the midst of it all, you feel empowered, supported, and surrounded by care. When we first got married, we began trying for a biological child, but after a long and emotional journey, we received the heartbreaking news that growing our family in that way would be extremely difficult. Despite these challenges, we've come through stronger and full of hope. We're now incredibly excited to grow our family through adoption. Welcoming a child through adoption has always been part of our dream of having a big family. We’ve learned so much from close friends and relatives with beautiful adoption stories, and their experiences have only strengthened our desire to take this path. We promise to give your child a loving and stable home filled with warmth, laughter, and endless opportunities. Your child's adoption story will be shared with them from the beginning and will always be embraced and cherished. Please know that we're keeping you in our thoughts and sending you peace as you consider your options. We would be honored to walk this journey with you and your baby. With So Much Love, Zack & Kali
Hello & Thank You , We know your brain must be on absolute overload right now, but we’d like to take up just a little of your time. We’ll get to the introductions soon, but first, there’s something important we want you to know. We realize this process might not be what you envisioned, but if you choose us to be your child’s adoptive parents, we promise (and we don’t take this word lightly) that they will always know their story and where they come from. More than anything, we hope this can be the start of a lifelong connection, one where you remain a part of their life and ours, for the journey ahead. Now for the introductions. We are Courtney and Miguel, and we live in Wisconsin with our two dogs, Sumo and Delta. We met in college, became friends, and the rest is history. We’ve been together for 14 years and married for 10 years. Adoption has always been a topic of conversation throughout our marriage and has always been our “Plan A” rather than “Plan B.” Miguel was born and raised in Costa Rica, so we know the importance of learning and celebrating your heritage. Because Spanish is such an important part of his culture and family life, we plan to raise our child bilingual. We’re excited to share the language, traditions, and stories I grew up with, and to help them build strong connections with their heritage. One of the phrases that we find to be an important theme in our lives and relationships is “say what you are feeling out loud.” For both of us, communication is key in everything we do. We hope to partner with you in this journey, and we are willing to meet you wherever you feel most comfortable in terms of openness. All our best, Miguel & Courtney
Hello & Thank You , Thank you for taking the time to learn about us. We can only imagine the love, strength, and courage it takes to create an adoption plan, and we want you to know how much we admire and respect you for it. How do you find the words to write to someone you have not yet met, but already feel such deep love and gratitude for? The opportunity you are providing to help create a family that otherwise would not be is something we will never take for granted. We are truly honored to be considered as potential parents for your child, and we hold this moment with the utmost respect. We are Matthew and Lauren. We met in 2018, and on our very first date, we were already dreaming about having a family. We married in 2021 and quickly began planning to grow our little family. We have two dogs, Olly and Marvel, who we know would love a sibling to play with and protect. After learning that Lauren could not get pregnant, we realized that this was God’s way of guiding us toward something just as beautiful — adoption. Adoption holds deep meaning for us. Matt and his brother were both adopted as young children, and he has always known it would be part of his story, too. We are both incredibly grateful to have loving and supportive families behind us as we grow our family through adoption. From the very beginning, our parents, siblings, and extended families have cheered us on with open hearts. They are all so excited to welcome a new child into our lives and cannot wait to share in the joy. This book is a glimpse into our lives - who we are, the life we’ve built together, and the life we hope to share with a child. We hope you feel the love, laughter, and stability that surround us and our home. If we are chosen, we will raise your child with endless love, support, and a deep respect for where they came from- you! We will speak your name with honor and ensure that your child grows up knowing their story began with love. Sincerely, Matthew & Lauren
