The Beauty of Adoption

In honor of National Adoption Month, we bring you some touching personal accounts of how it feels to be both an adoptive parent and an adopted child.

When I first set out to write this article I could never have imagined that it would turn out like this. My views on adoption were as a third person and quite frankly a little naiive, having never experienced it myself. I wanted to learn more and my perception on adoption was somewhat seen through rose tinted glasses, rounded off with a little hint of the difficulties of actually going through the adoption process.

What I've learnt is much more than that.

Whilst listening to the families share their stories to me, I noticed that the subject can at times be a little sensitive, particularly for the child. Even when that child has grown up. As a mom, this gave me a new perspective on parenting that I had never taken into consideration. My kids have always been my kids. I've never had the difficult task of having to explain that they have another mommy or daddy. I've come to understand, through listening to my friends share their accounts, that the most important thing, above anything else, is the love and bond that being an adoptive parent or child can bring. I take my hat off to all adoptive parents and chidren around the world for having the courage and strength and beauty inside of them to be able to bring a world of opportunity to each other.



The beautiful side of adoption.

Boz and Sarah Ann's Story

Boz and Sarah Ann live in Canada. They met when Sarah was 3 years old. Here is what Boz had to say about her experience:

"I met my daughter when I was twenty three and her third birthday was only a week gone. Her adopted father, the only dad she would ever really know, held her in his arms and we were eye to eye.

Somehow in that moment I knew I was looking at someone that was going to be in my life forever; that old soul looking at me out of the gorgeous hazel eyes. That was eighteen beautiful years ago. She saved my life more than once and probably doesn't need to know that. Maybe that is true of all families. We just keep it simple: love is love. No explanations neccesary."

Bethany´s Story

Beth was born in Romania in the early 1990´s. This was a time when many children and babies had been placed in orphanages due to the then Presdident Ceaucescue creating a law that made abortion illegal in a drive to increase the population of Romania. Contraception was banned and many families, already living in poverty found themselves expecting babies that they just could not care for. This resulted in the children being left in overcrowded and often shocking conditions as many of these orphanages were unable to financially cope. It was a situation so bad that it made mainstream news across Europe and many people in the UK sought to help by adopting the children.

Beth´s birth mother was a single parent and struggled to look after her 4 children and still continue to work to help provide for them. Pregnant with Beth also, she felt the only thing she could do was put Beth up for adoption.

Beth considers herself one of the lucky ones. She was adopted by a UK family when she was 8 months old. They had met Beth when she was just 3 months old and instantly fell in love with her. The adoption process took a long time due a combination of legal red tape and the fact that Beth had been born premature with many health complications.
Her adoptive mom kept a record of her birth certificate, adoption process and current events at the time so Beth could understand her identy. They even incorporated her birth name as her middle name, a beautiful gesture.

Beth has known that she was adopted for as long as she can remember. When asked how she felt about that, she said that it was a good thing and she is glad that her mom and dad told her from a young age. It saved her from the shock and mentally prepared her for the day when she may meet her biological family. She also feels so lucky to have been given the life she has. She feels her adoptive parents saved her life.

Beth met her biological family in 2011. Although she does not know her biological father. She gets on really well with her older sister (pictured above right, with Beth) She attended her wedding this year and her adoptive father joined the ceremony too.



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It just goes to show that it doesn´t matter whether your parents are the ones who brought you into this world or not. It´s about the love, kindness and good guidance that a parent has for a child. The ability to parent positively and prepare their child for the future.

I would like to say a big thank you to all who have contributed to this article and providing the images used.