Parenting and adoption are complicated topics in
themselves. The never-ending debate about the differences in parenting
biological children versus parenting adopted children is unending and
remains unresolved till date. Some of the typical questions and
challenges that adoptive parents have to face are locating or finding
information about birth parents, siblings and other relatives of the
child, also finding the medical, psychiatric or learning history of the
children to help them deal with specific problems. Your parenting will
almost be the same as any normal parent's, but you may face more
questions in public if you and your adopted child look different.
Adoptive Parenting Issues
There are certain questions, such as who is my birth mother or why did
you choose to adopt me, that bother the adoptive parents, as the child
grows and faces the reality. The role of adoptive parent is as joyous
and rewarding experience as a biological parent, but at times, it can
also be emotionally demanding. Other important issues that can be faced
by adoptive revolve around the differences between parent and child.
This can become more complicated if you are parenting as a single
parent, as people will often ask you personal questions about your
family that may be insulting or offensive for you.
Hiding the Fact of Adoption
Normal and routine parenting is what is considered conventional and
acceptable by all societies. In some communities, difficult situations
may arise when people try to pass off their adoptive children as their
biological children, as they are afraid that they and their children may
face social isolation or mockery. Then, there are child discipline
issues, where children and parents have clash of opinions. As parents
act strict, the child might try to use words like 'adopted' as a weapon.
If he/she doesn't speak out, he/she might just get depressed thinking
that his/her parents are angry only because he/she is 'adopted'! This is
another reason why adoptive parents prefer to hide the fact of a child's
adoption.
Same Challenges In Normal & Adoptive Parenting
There are certain challenges that a parent has a face with all his/her
kids, irrespective of the fact that they are natural or adoptive. For
instance, teenage will always pose a challenge for parents and they will
also have to make efforts to protect their child from peer pressure.
Each and every situation of parenting has its own difficulties as well
as joys and they are similar in natural and adoptive parenting. It is
only the parents who have to decide, understand, access and solve the
needs of their children and adapt their parenting style accordingly, be
their child natural or adoptive.