8 Myths and Realities About Adoption, from Adoptive Families magazine

8 Myths and Realities About Adoption, from Adoptive Families magazine

FACTS

• As of the 2000 Census, there were 1.5 million children under age 18 in America who joined their families through adoption. This figure represents 2% of all children in the U.S.
• In the U.S., there are 5 million people today who were adopted. More than 100,000 children are adopted each year.
• 65% of all Americans have a personal connection to adoption and view it favorably.

MYTH: There are very few babies being placed for adoption.

REALITY: About 25,000 U.S.-born infants are placed for adoption each year—many more than the annual total of international adoptions.

MYTH: Adoption is outrageously expensive, out of reach for most families.

REALITY: Adoption is often no more expensive than giving birth. Costs to adopt domestically average $25,000, before the roughly $13,000 Adoption Tax Credit and benefits that many employers offer.

MYTH: It takes years to complete an adoption.

REALITY: The average time span of adoption is one to two years. The majority of domestic and international adopters who respond to Adoptive Families’ annual Cost & Timing of Adoption Surveys complete their adoptions in less than two years.

MYTH: Birthparents can show up at any time to reclaim their child.

REALITY: Once an adoption is finalized, the adoptive family is recognized as the child’s family by law. Despite the publicity surrounding a few high-profile cases, post-adoption revocations are extremely rare.

MYTH: Birthparents are all troubled teens.

REALITY: Most birthparents today are older than 18, but lack the resources to provide and care for a child. It is generally with courage and love for their child that they terminate their parental rights.

MYTH: Adopted children are more likely to be troubled than birth children.

REALITY: Research shows that adoptees are as well-adjusted as their non-adopted peers. There is virtually no difference in psychological functioning between them.

MYTH: Open adoption causes problems for children.

REALITY: Adoptees are not confused by contact with their birthparents. They benefit from the increased understanding that their birthparents gave them life but their forever families take care of and nurture them.

MYTH: Parents can’t love an adopted child as much as they would a biological child.

REALITY: Love and attachment are not the result of nor guaranteed by biology. The intensity of bonding and depth of emotion are the same, regardless of how the child joined the family.

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