Positive Adoption Language

Adoption language is something that I noticed on my own before learning about it school. I hate words like "real parent" and "illegitimate child". Before starting the adoption process, I hated seeing every adopted child prefaced as one ("This is Lewis, their adopted child"). Like I heard someone say once, no one would introduce a child as "Lewis, the failed birth control baby". How they became a part of the family is not a qualifier as to their role in the family!

I am copying this from adoptivefamilies.com, so all the credit goes to them... The way we talk—and the words we choose—say a lot about what we think and value. When we use positive adoption language, we say that adoption is a way to build a family just as birth is. Both are important, but one is not more important than the other.

Choose the following positive adoption language instead of the negative talk that helps perpetuate the myth that adoption is second best. By using positive adoption language, you’ll reflect the true nature of adoption, free of innuendo.