Comments on: Back-to-School Issues for Birth Parents http://birthparents.adoptionblogs.com/weblogs/back-to-school-issues-for-birth-parents A blog for and about parents who have placed a child for adoption. Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:23:05 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Jenna Hatfield http://birthparents.adoptionblogs.com/weblogs/back-to-school-issues-for-birth-parents/comment-page-1#comment-1703 Jenna Hatfield Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:46:02 +0000 http://birth-first.www.adoptionblogs.com/2009/08/27/back-to-school-issues-for-birth-parents#comment-1703 AJ; I'm a birth mother. Not an adoptive mother. My parented children are assumed to be my only children despite the fact that their sister hangs on our wall and they know her as their sister. While adoptive parents have fought the fight, birth families in open adoption are fighting a different fight. We're trying to make people recognize that respecting families includes respecting those adoptive families AND those birth families. AJ; I’m a birth mother. Not an adoptive mother. My parented children are assumed to be my only children despite the fact that their sister hangs on our wall and they know her as their sister. While adoptive parents have fought the fight, birth families in open adoption are fighting a different fight. We’re trying to make people recognize that respecting families includes respecting those adoptive families AND those birth families.

]]> By: a.j. evans http://birthparents.adoptionblogs.com/weblogs/back-to-school-issues-for-birth-parents/comment-page-1#comment-1702 a.j. evans Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:36:36 +0000 http://birth-first.www.adoptionblogs.com/2009/08/27/back-to-school-issues-for-birth-parents#comment-1702 As an adult adoptee, your blog caught me by surprise. I thought this battle had been fought and won decades ago. My adoptive parents were both teachers. I filled in my family tree with my adoptive parents as my parents and my brother...not blood related as my brother. No one ever told me I didn't have a brother, or my brother that he didn't have a sister. We were and are a family. Adoption is the means by which we arrived. As an adult, I found my birth family and now I have two family trees: : one by birth, and one by adoption. As an adult adoptee, your blog caught me by surprise. I thought this battle had been fought and won decades ago. My adoptive parents were both teachers. I filled in my family tree with my adoptive parents as my parents and my brother…not blood related as my brother. No one ever told me I didn’t have a brother, or my brother that he didn’t have a sister. We were and are a family. Adoption is the means by which we arrived. As an adult, I found my birth family and now I have two family trees: : one by birth, and one by adoption.

]]> By: Mandy W http://birthparents.adoptionblogs.com/weblogs/back-to-school-issues-for-birth-parents/comment-page-1#comment-1701 Mandy W Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:40:37 +0000 http://birth-first.www.adoptionblogs.com/2009/08/27/back-to-school-issues-for-birth-parents#comment-1701 While having a sibling that was adopted into another family may not be the "norm" remember that the majority of families today are non-traditional. Step dads/moms/sibling and half siblings are everyday things. <br /> <br /> As with most things, being open and honest without giving to much information seems to work. If your boys are confident about the subject then others will pick up on that to.<br /> <br /> It's still tricky though and I don't think it'll ever be "easy" as with all things parenting. While having a sibling that was adopted into another family may not be the “norm” remember that the majority of families today are non-traditional. Step dads/moms/sibling and half siblings are everyday things.

As with most things, being open and honest without giving to much information seems to work. If your boys are confident about the subject then others will pick up on that to.

It’s still tricky though and I don’t think it’ll ever be “easy” as with all things parenting.

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