Adoption can be a complex situation with both positive and negative results. For example, adoption can affect a child positively by placing him in a loving and stable environment. It can affect him negatively if, when he finds out about his adoption, he struggles with issues of identity, low self-esteem and grief. Managing negative emotions in a constructive manner can lead to positive outcomes for an adopted child.
Stability
Adoption releases a child from potentially negative situations. Many parents place a child for adoption because they feel unable to parent that child. Adoption provides a home with adoptive parents who can offer love and support. Some children are rescued from dangerous situations or neglect and are given a safe environment in which to grow up. Children adopted internationally might have been in orphanages with little food and stimulation, and adoption provides opportunities for nourishment, attachment and trust.
Permanence
Adoption provides permanent families for children. Some children spend months or years in an orphanage and never experience a connection with a trusted adult. Other kids are moved through the foster care system and always wonder if they will be moved again. Adoption provides a “forever family” for children who can learn that their place in a home is no longer temporary.
Health
Some children, particularly those adopted internationally, get poor medical treatment before adoption. Children adopted into stable families can receive care for medical issues, including necessary medications, surgery or therapy.
Identity
Adopted children might experience issues with identity and wonder how they fit into their adopted family. Adopted children must work through their own issues with identity in order to feel a sense of belonging within a family. Identity issues can arise at various times, such as adolescence or after the birth of the adopted child's own child. Children adopted by a family of a different race might question their ethnic heritage and struggle with feeling connected to their own race.
Grief
An adopted child might experience feelings of loss and guilt. According to the Child Welfare Information Gateway, children might grieve the loss of birth parents. They might wonder about their birth family background or why they were adopted. And they might feel guilty about this grieving because they love their adopted parents and don't want to upset them.
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