children s health issues
Adoption
After adoption
Most children who have been adopted, including those previously in foster care or foreign orphanages, adjust well and develop few problems. However, as children age, they may develop feelings of rejection because they were given up by their birth family. During adolescence and young adulthood, in particular, people who have been adopted may be very curious about their birth parents, even if they do not ask about them. Some people seek information about, or seek out, their birth parents, and some birth parents seek out their birth children. Not telling children they were adopted can hurt them later. It is best if this information is never considered a secret but is just considered part of the family history. If asked, adoptive parents should tell the child about the birth parents in a comforting manner. For example, if the child was Overview of Child Neglect and Abuse or Children need reassurance that they are loved and always will be loved. If children have contact with their birth families, it helps for parents to tell the children that two sets of parents love them. 