Adopting a child is an amazing experience, but also poses a few challenges for new parents, as well as parent pros new to the adoption process. Bringing your adopted child home is one of the most vital steps in making the transition easier, for both your and your new child.
For instance, choosing what type of adoption is best for your family and the adopted child. Open adoption and closed adoption are the two types. “Birth parents and the adoptive family decide together what kind of relationship they want to have, and how often visits, phone calls, and updates happen,” according to Planned Parenthood.
This decision alone is sometime overwhelming, but there are other must-do tips for bringing your adopted child home. Let’s dive a little deeper into a few tips for a smoother transition.
1. Understand Your Adopted Child’s Life Prior To Bringing Him Or Her Home
Adopting a newborn is sometimes not always in the cards. Many adopted children have already had some life experiences prior to you, making it vital to understand what life was like before bringing him or her home.
This is important for both open and closed adoptions. If you have the opportunity, get information from the birth parents about the child’s routines, likes and dislikes, and even the child’s favorite toys and activities. This can make the transition from home to home much smoother.
If you are adopting a child from an international organization, it is best to book flights and spend a week or two in the adopted child’s country to understand culture, routines, and life better.
This can also be useful for future conversations about ethnicity and potential differences that the child may notice and ask about later in life. “When you adopt a child from another country, you are separating them from the culture of their birth,” Adoption.org explained.
2. Hire A Professional Adoption Lawyer
If you don’t have professional support in your corner during the adoption process, you may experience a lengthy wait to bring your adopted child home. The very nature of adoption is long legal process, and this is good, but can cause daily stress for excellent adoption candidates.
A lawyer can help speed the process and also take tons of stress off your shoulders. This allows you to focus on parent stuff, like preparing your home for a new child, rather than legal stuff.
“You don’t want to have to go through unnecessary delays, deal with stress and hassle, or end up getting your case rejected during this time,” Holmes, Diggs, and Sadler, Houston infant adoption attorneys said. “Your energy should be focused on preparing your home for the new arrival, not legal minutiae.”
3. Make The Homecoming Day As Relaxed As Possible
Homecoming day for new adoption parents and child is very special, but don’t go throwing a party just yet. It is certainly a time for celebration, but the transition into a new home should be parent and child focused.
To ensure an exceptional homecoming day, keep it relaxed and family unit oriented. They can meet grandparents and other family members and friends later. There is no rush. The goal is to make the transition into the new family and home quiet and all about family.
Be sure to spend the day introducing the adopted child to their new home, like their room, living areas, and the outside of the home. Conveying that it is now their forever home can be helpful, especially for children coming from foster homes.
4. Keep The Family Unit Very Tight For The First Few Months
Lastly, it is very important to keep the family unit close during those first few months. Remember that pregnancy lasts nine months, giving a baby time to connect in ways that an adopted child cannot. The good news, however, is that you can make up this time.
When adopting a child, plan to take a month, or even two months off from work to keep the whole family together. If it is not possible to get off work, at least plan for one parent to always be around, having the second parent cut hours to be at home more.
This will strengthen the family unit and lay the foundation for a powerful bond moving forward.
Wrapping Up . . .
The above must-do tips for bringing your newly adopted child home are only the tip of the iceberg. There are certainly a lot more, but it is vital to make the moment less stressful, allowing the family to grow together in a natural and low-key way. Do you have adoption tips? We want to hear about them.
