Reynolds Family Blog

Well, I started the Internet adoption training courses while we were in Florida. I've now completed two of them: Attachment and Bonding & Culture and Identity.

I knew China made it particularly problematic for children to find their birth families due to the prevalence of child abandonment, but I assumed it was difficult to find the birth families in just about any country. I found it interesting that in some countries, the birth mothers have to provide information about their own birth and any siblings the child may have. In Guatemala, the mothers surrendering their children have to give a DNA sample, as well as a lot of biographical information.

I learned that most adopted children (even if adopted in infancy) don't grasp the idea that they've suffered a loss (loss of a birth family) until school age. Since we're adopting a school age child, I wonder if she's already begun coping with that loss.

However, since we are adopting her at an advanced age, she will for sure have to deal with the pyschological loss of culture and language. It is suggested that we try and incorporate occasional Chinese meals in our lives. We should also include some Chinese toys and/or dolls that resemble her. We will also celebrate things like Chinese New Year with other local families who have adopted Chinese children.

Brock and I have slowly come to the realization that we will be a multi-cultural family in more ways than just appearance.