FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS can be complicated. Families that
come together through foster care, guardianship and adoption often
experience added layers of complexity. One constant for all these
families is the experience of loss. For some children and their
parents and caregivers, these losses loom large, creating
significant challenges. Families often fail to understand
the significance of these losses and struggle to
cope with and respond effectively to the unique
experiences of grief, which can lead to difficulties
in the household.

Some losses are more ambiguous than others and
lack the finality that is necessary for an individual to
come to a sense of peace and closure. Not knowing
one’s birth story, having missing information or
having information but not knowing if or when
you’ll ever see birth family members again can create
significant distress for children and youth.

Loss can also be further complicated when the
child’s adoptive family does not publicly acknowledge
or support the child. The fact that the birth family
may be physically gone from their lives doesn’t mean
that they are emotionally and psychologically absent.

Further, many children also lose a sense of their identity
if they are now being raised in families and communities
that are culturally or ethnically different from their
family of birth.

advocate for
ADOPTION COMPETENCY
BY DAWN WILSON
Specialized training helps mental health professionals
understand the needs, challenges and experiences of
children and their foster, adoptive and kinship families
THITAREESARMKASAT/ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES PLUS
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