November is National Adoption Month
National Adoption Month was created to celebrate families and bring awareness to all the kids waiting in foster care for permanency or a “forever family”.
Michael Dukakis in 1976, as then Governor of Massachusetts, proclaimed National Adoption Week in his state. President Gerald Ford then made it a National Celebration. Then, in 1995, President Clinton proclaimed that November would celebrate National Adoption Month. During this time, courthouses across the US finalize hundreds of adoptions simultaneously.
In celebration of National Adoption Month, Legacy Adoption would like to promote the use of positive adoption language. By using positive adoption language it helps to end the myth that adoption is second best.
Positive Adoption Language |
Negative Adoption Language |
| Birth parent | Real parents |
| Birth child | Own child |
| My child | Adopted child; own child |
| Give up your child | Make an adoption plan |
| To parent | To keep |
| Child placed for adoption | An Unwanted Child |
| Court Terminated | Child Taken Away |
| Child with Special Needs | Handicapped Child |
Barriers of Adoption
Barrier of Regret is when the client may feel or is being told that you will regret making an adoption plan for the rest of her life.
Barrier of Family and Cultural Pressure is when the client may be under enormous pressure to parent because of family or cultural beliefs, even though she may not believe it is the best option for her.
Barrier of Guilt and Abandonment is when the client cannot overcome her feelings of guilt and shame; she truly believed that creating an adoption plan means she will be abandoning her child.
Barrier of Religion is when the client is under pressure to parent because of religious beliefs- her own and/or family’s- that may support the concept that it is the birth mothers duty and obligation to parent no matter what or promotes the idea that adoption is not the best interest of the child, even if the birth mother is not in a position to parent, or is not capable of parenting.
Barrier of “Parenting is Bliss” is when the client has unrealistic expectations of what it means to be a parent, is likely ignorant of the huge responsibilities involved, and often believed and often told that she will receive all the help and support she needs to raise a child and meets her life goal.
Barrier of Collusion is when neither the counselor nor the client raises the option of adoption. Counselors say they do not raise the option because they think the clients are not interested or they do not feel comfortable talking about adoption. Clients say they do not consider adoption because they receive no information or inaccurate information on adoption.
