Dear Media People: Quit Using the Word “Adoption” | Raising Kvell.

What a fascinating article!

This was shared by a friend on Facebook, and, at first I thought, “Oh dear, another rant about the stigma of adoption.”  But, I’m so glad that I read the article, as it opened my eyes to some weird and distressing affects on adopted children’s self-image that I hadn’t given thought to.

Obviously, I feel very strongly that my kids are my kids, and I am their mom, whether I am genetically related to them (my daughter) or not (my sons).  But, my husband and I also have operated on the assumption with S and J that it’s obvious to everyone that we are not biologically related, so we always speak of their adoption as a normal part of how families come together.  They understand that they had parents who died (who S has some memory of, but J doesn’t because he was too young), and that we are their parents now (and for ever after!).

I am not the kind of mom to ever wear a necklace that says “Mom”, but I love this line from the article: My “Mom” necklace is not surrounded by quotation marks.