Adoption Causes Grief
Haley Peck
Caledonia Mumford High School
Abstract
An unborn child stays in their mother’s womb for approximately 9 months. During that time, they make an unbreakable connection with each other. When adoption takes place at any age of the adoptees life, it is difficult for both the mother and child. When infants are abandoned, or feel that they are being abandoned, it causes them to grow up with many unresolved issues. This is because the first thing they learn about life is that it is lonely and hostile, unlike their mother’s womb. This can cause adoptees to grow up with many psychological issues and the major one is grief. They grieve the loss of their birth mother and the life that they could have lived. No matter how dedicated an adoptive mother is, she can never fill that void.
Discussion
Adoption is an amazing process and it is strongly encouraged in our country. However, adoptees face several psychological issues, including grief. The biological mother and child have a very strong bond and, when broken, it leaves the child with many unresolved issues. When the baby is in the fetal stage, the mother is the whole world for the baby and completely supports the fetus. After the baby is born, maintaining that connection is needed for the infant to feel a sense of well-being and wholeness. Following an adoption, the infant often feels helpless, empty, hopeless, and alone. This is because the baby is missing something which is
The poem “Mothers and Daughters” is written by Pat Mora. Pat Mora is a contemporary award winning writer, who writes for children, youngsters and adults. She was born in El Paso, TX in the year 1942. She attains a title of a Hispanic writer; however, the most of her poems are in English. In her literary work, one can observe the different aspects of the immigrants’ lives such as language issues, family relationships, immigrants’ experiences and cultural differences (1187).
Although memories don’t exist for me prior to my adoption as I was only nine months old –there are recordings of this consequential event. These videos were recorded by a family friend; however, at the time of the recordings my mother and grandmother had only just met our soon-to-be lifelong friends on the plane to China. In the video, the moment when my mother meets me for the first time is when I consider my life starting. My mother was calm through the chaotic event. The video shows my mom taking me from the caretaker’s arms and holding me. The one part of the video that surprises me is that I begin to cry the moment I’m in her arms; almost as if I were a newborn being held for the first time. Depending on the person, there are many different reactions to a baby crying – some panic, while others are composed and collected. My mother was able to soothe me to sleep despite the noisy disorder around us, almost as if we were the only two people in the room. I guess that’s the effect of a mother’s gentle touch. My
The authors talk about their research of what has mostly affected the parties of adoption and how even the adoptive parents can struggle to feel like the child belongs to them.
Now there are some things to consider when it comes to adoption. One of these being that transracial adoptees do not always want to be adopted by people from a different race. Meaning that skin tone and ethnicity plays a factor in the adoption process. Many people question if placing an adoptee in the home of a different race family fits the need of the child, and in the long run that’s the main goal of adoption, fitting the needs of the child. This situation has become very common, and are not always bad. However, “Trans-racial adoption can have very good outcomes, but one issue keeps cropping up – and that’s a sense of loneliness and isolation, a sense of not belonging. Adoption is a new identity and when you get the added challenges of people
Just like abortion the mother is able to return to her previous life rather than parent the baby when choosing adoption. There are many parents that are struggling with infertility, and adoption allows their dream of starting a family to become a reality. (adopt) There are parents wanting to adopt, while at the same time there are approximately 1.1 million unnecessary abortions happening throughout the U.S. (for life).Which just shows how common unneeded abortions are happening. Despite the belief that birth mothers are mostly teenagers, women who pursue adoption are of varying ages, races, and levels of education.(adopt) Not only is abortion killing the baby it is also can cause great emotional pain for the mother afterwards. It is called post abortion syndrome. It’s a form of post-traumatic stress and includes symptoms like the feeling of guilt, anxiety, depression, and even sometimes the thoughts of suicide. In some cases it can affect the way the woman lives the rest of her life.(action news) That’s another reason why adoption is the right choice and abortion should be illegal. Even the 14th amendment was designed to protect human beings like the
This group is for addressing those issues, letting the women share their stories and experiences, find support through one another, create lasting friendships, and creating a positive difference in each woman’s life after “losing their child.” These women will hopefully take with them many positive lessons and self-reflection. The birth mothers will learn to overcome and share their own difficulties and issues of the following: healthy coping skills for dealing with the grief and loss of each birth mothers’ baby, their guilt and shame, identity issues within each birth mother, the effect adoption has on their present and future relationships, and gaining control once again on each birthmother’s lives and create a strong network of support and friendships. Each birthmother will find out more about themselves than they knew before the group, such as identifying each woman’s strengths, weaknesses, goals, and challenges that still need to be addressed. The major theme of the group will consist of resolving grief, making peace with this life decision each birth mother recently made, and find one selves identity again while incorporating another aspect of their identity as a birth parent. The population to be served in this group are women ages 15 to 35 and of the greater Kansas City area, who have gone through the adoption process and are trying to find support and treatment post placement experience are welcome to join this
Each week women gather at Christian Chapel, a church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to meet with mentors to discuss what they endured that week. There are several different care groups. The most attended groups are the parenting and birth mothers groups. I decided to sit in at a birth mothers group, which was uncomfortable for me. This care group is held for birth mothers who have gave their child or children up for adoption. Some of the birth mothers experience open adoption, meaning they have some form of communication with their birth children. Although some birth mothers obtain closed adoptions, where they have no communication with their birth children.
This topic merits attention in the research field so this study proposes to understand the adoptive experience of internationally adopted adults in terms of their identity development, attachment experience, and adaptation to life in an American family. A qualitative interview approach will be used while interviewing internationally adopted adults to understand the complex experience of adoption and how one adapts to this experience. This study is developed in hopes to inform prospective adoptive families and mental health practitioners of the experiences and challenges faced by international adoptees so they are
No matter the underlying motives for adoption, the process is one with self-fulfilling rewards, no matter the age of the adopted child. In an article by a mother who adopted an eight year old, she briefly explains the struggles she encountered because of her daughter’s age. She mentions that she initially did not have the intention of adopting an older child, but her son convinced her to adopt the “sad girl.”
There are mixed feelings about the statement that adoption is not the same as having a child of your own. In many cases that statement is true, but on many other cases, that statement is incredibly wrong. For many unfortunate children, having a biological family is rather difficult. In many third world countries, many children are forced to live on the streets and many of them are clueless as to who their biological parents are. Annually, more than 40,000 children are transferred out of and into more than 100 countries. These young victims have suffered insufficient medical care, maternal separation, or some other kinds of abuse. Over 10,000 international adopted children immigrated to the United States annually. These children provide their new adopting families character traits that are unique. But along
She also suggests when circumstances of extreme infant mortality and abundant fertility exist, poor families become accustomed to the passing of a child; mothers do not mourn the death of their fragile child, and parental acceptance (routinization) of child bereavement may authentically endanger the life of certain progenies. The mothers only nurture the newborns which have a high survival rate and psychologically detach themselves from infants whom are sure to pass away.
There are also various psychological issues that one is faced with while adopting a child which may include situations in which the adoptive parents find themselves in a dilemma to permit the biological parents to remain in contact with their adopted child as they might feel threatened that their son or daughter may develop a stronger bond with his or her birth parents and decide to leave when they become adults in order to live with them instead. The adopted child may also go through a plethora of emotions over the years regarding his or her adoption. He or she may feel abandonment, isolation, guilt, rejection towards their birth parents and may go through certain self identity issues. Thus extra care and attentiveness is usually required
For many especially those who were never treated differently by there adoptive parents, such feeling can be overcome easily but unfortunately for some, it takes lifetime to overcome.
Adoptive parents share in the joys of parenthood, which may also include challenges that impact their family dynamic. However, the reasons for adopting a child vary among couples, with a central one being infertility, but can include a desire to care for orphans. Therefore, couples might approach the subject of adoption with a bittersweet mentality, particularly if the natural ability to conceive is the issue. The choices concerning adoption for prospective or current parents are not light in nature, including, but not limited to, finances, the type of adoption, and selecting a lawyer or agency. Receiving professional counseling before finalizing a decision is also beneficial. Aside from the technical aspects, there is the raising of a child that will entail explanations of why there are noticeable differences between him and her and other family members, along with recognizing difficult transitional periods the child might encounter (Pertman, 2011, pp. 169-170). Thus, adoptive parents have distinct concerns they will encounter, with one being grieving the inability of having biological children, as well as childrearing issues.
Adopting a child is an experience that promises to bring great joy as it changes a couple or individual’s life forever. Adoption enables the lives of many children to be transformed; it offers children, who are orphaned, abandoned, neglected, abused, or unwanted a chance to live in a stable, loving environment. The adoptive parent-child union is commonly looked at as sanctified because the adoptive parents provide a needy infant with love, a home, and nurture. Adopted children have the potential to become blessed, healthy, and productive members of loving families and being a member of a caring family can help them to become responsible and compassionate adults capable of making positive contributions to their world while raising happy and