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English study says adopted children want more information about their background
Filed under: Adoption
A new study by England's children's rights director concludes that adopted children want more information about their birth family and the circumstances surrounding their adoption.
Dr. Roger Morgan says that of the adopted people he surveyed, ranging from age 6 to 22, many of them feel they have not sufficiently been informed of their particular situation.
The doctor's rationale for his study was that adopted children need a more complete picture of their backgrounds, and that includes getting all the information they can about their birth families.
It certainly seems reasonable that adopted children be given more access to their information, but I'm not so sure that interviewing children as young as 6 years old about their feelings surrounding their adoption is such a good idea. These kids are just beginning to find out about themselves and are in a crucial growing phase, and to introduce a complex subject as their feelings about adoption might (I emphasize the word "might") not be such a great idea at this time in their lives.
However, speaking as one adoptive parent, I would certainly support my child in her efforts to find out about her background, if she chooses to.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
11-23-2006 @ 11:13AM
Dylan Emrys, M.A. said...Hi Michael.
In my studies what I've come to understand is that the two biggest and most frequent questions from adoptees are: Who do I look like? and Why was I 'given up?'
However, even in open adoptions where those two questions can be answered, professionals are finding that adoptees still have an "emptiness" (described various ways) that they aren't sure what to do about.
Regarding your concern about talking with younger children about their adoption, I want to say I completely understand your perspective. I'll add however, that if children's adoption has been shared with them since their arrival in the family they will be quite fluent in it, and how they feel about even earlier than age 6. And this doesn't mean they will be negative necessarily, but inherantly, they will know what it means because they FEEL it.
Not being told, or having it discussed, leaves the child with an unnameable, vague feeling (emptiness?) that can only be explained by "There must be something wrong or different about me." and this can be manifested in many ways - hiding the feeling, acting out, proving the feeling "See? I AM different."
So, this study is showing that adoptees are fluent, and it matters to them even at a young age.
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