Early Child Adoption

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It addition to this, another problem associated with integration that many adopting families face is the question of how to go about telling the child that he or she is adopted. Some families, like my own, choose to be very transparent with the child about their adoption and previous life in another country while other families choose to wait to tell the child or even wait for the child to approach them about their adoption. Although there is no specified or “correct” way of going about this sensitive topic, children, like any other child, should be respected and be free of discrimination. According to the Early Childhood Australia Code of Ethics we must all “work to ensure children are not discriminated against on the basis of gender, age, …show more content…

For example, little ways that my family and I have personally attempted to integrate Lydia’s culture into our own can be seen in how we celebrate her “Gotcha Day” when she was first placed into my parent’s arms and how we attempt to integrate her culture in even simpler ways such as celebrating Chinese New Year. More serious examples of integration can be seen in how we openly discuss her past and Chinese history by showing her Chinese paperwork and the outfit she was found in as well as how we incorporated her Chinese name, “Chen Chun Yei” into her American middle name by calling her “Lydia Chen.” Therefore, after adoption, it is not simply the adopted child’s culture, but the entire family’s culture and identity as …show more content…

Like many other forms of good work, there is the danger of producing elements of “voluntourism” and using service opportunities as a form of personal betterment. However, when a family or individual decides to adopt, they should not fall under the assumption that they are fixing a short-run problem. Yes, they are helping the child by giving them a home, but you are more importantly entering into the life of a child for the long run: a life that is often broken and in desperate need of attention and love. The focus should not be one what they, as adopted parents, can do and get out of this experience, but what they can give the child. Therefore, the true impact of adoption should not be seen of found in “helping” the country or people where the adopted child is from, but is instead found within the heart of the child and accepting and meeting them where he or she is culturally and

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