Psychology of Adopted Children. Each child is different when it comes…
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Each child is different when it comes to dealing with being adopted. Some can accept it a lot sooner and move on but some might take little longer as well. As parents, it depends on how openly you convey the message to them.

It is grief or loss that the child would go through despite less or no awareness. They feel rejected and abandoned by their birth parents. The immediate thought is “there must have been something wrong with me that they gave me up”. It takes age, maturity and emotional support to understand that they can be other reasons for giving for adoption. Also, they always have this question of “Who am I”. They grow up trying to build their self-identity. They need to feel loved and constant reassurance from their adopted parents in any form until they understand and develop trust.

The child’s psychological behaviour depends on when they get to know about their adoption. In their young age or teens, they wouldn’t be able to process this. Too many questions arouse in their mind for which they might or might not get answers for. Some kids wouldn’t ask their adopted parents as they feel they might hurt their feelings. So it would be helpful if the parents are more approachable about their adoption. Even if they do search for their birth parents or try to get information, their loyalty always stays with their adopted parents.

The child is curious to understand their history, hereditary or medical background that they come from. It is hard for them to handle questions like “Which parent do they resemble”. Mentally they struggle to answer on this unless they have been taught to be open about their adoption.

Let the child know about their adoption at the earliest possible and also support them emotionally. It helps them to know that you are available or open to discussing this with them at any period. They need to be able to talk about their adoption to someone and it is better if it is you (the parents).

It is important to make them understand that it is nothing to fear. As today, adoption is pretty common and it is not assumed to be unnatural or different. There is a positive way in the way society deals with it. As parents, you need to make sure you build your child’s confidence in terms of adoption.
['Srinidhi S']
['Psychology', 'Adoption', 'Children', 'Relationships', 'Parents']