Consumer News - Post-Adoption Services Available - Consumer & Government Guides; Questions & Answers

For some children who are adopted, the adjustment period takes a few months; for others it takes years. Bringing a child home is not the end of the process. And despite your strong motivation and readiness for the job, you may need some help in making the adjustment to parenthood.

You may find that your shy teenager has become belligerent, refusing to obey the rules you have established. Or maybe you

have started to resent the demands on your time that your baby makes—you are tired and overwhelmed. Or your daughter refuses to sleep at night and has nightmares when she does. She may be afraid that you are not going to keep her, if she has suffered serious rejections in the past. All children pose issues for their parents at various stages of their development. Adopted children have additional questions about their identity and heritage that will need to be addressed.

Whatever the issues, there is help in the form of postadoption services. Postadoption services include support groups, therapy, workshops for adoptive families, and books and articles that address parenting issues with a focus on adoption.

More and more licensed adoption agencies now offer these services and would be the first resource to contact for help. If you've adopted through an agency, you probably have a contact there who can guide you.

Support groups can be invaluable in providing encouragement, suggesting resources, validating your feelings, and recommending therapists. By this point, you are probably already connected to one. If not, The Committee For Single Adoptive Parents can help you locate a local group and put you in touch with experienced single adopters.

It is important to realize that asking for help is not a sign of weakness or an indication of failure. As a single parent, it was your determination that enabled you to find a child and get through the adoption process. Using this strength and resourcefulness to work on family relationships is a positive way to establish a new lifestyle, and one that will benefit you and your family.

Written by Mady Prowler of the National Adoption Center in 1990. Revised by Debra G. Smith of the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse in 1994.

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