Am I ready to adopt?
Before you decide, consider the following questions:
- Am I ready to love a child to whom I have not given birth?
- Have I stopped fertility treatment and committed to adoption?
- Am I comfortable accepting the fact that the birth family exists and will be important to the child, whether I know them or not?
- Am I prepared to meet the birth family and have some form of communication with them for my child’s sake?
- Will I support my child if she or he wants to search for birth family?
- Is my interest in international adoption a wish to avoid birth parents?
- Am I prepared to have an open relationship with my child’s siblings?
- Am I prepared to consider adopting any siblings my child may have after I adopt?
- Am I ready to become a transracial family that assertively pursues activities linking my child to her or his ethnic group of origin?
- Am I prepared to be a “visible family,” and to advocate for my child?
- Can I let go of my “dream child”?
- Am I comfortable with the idea of parenting a child that may turn out to have special needs?
- Do I understand that adoptive parenting brings different challenges to parenting biological children?
- Do I understand that adoption is permanent?
- My partner and I have a strong, committed relationship.
- I have a strong network of supportive friends and family.
If you have answered “No” to any of these questions, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t adopt a child, it means that you need to think carefully about the topics you have answered “no” to. Talk to your adoption agency, a counsellor, or one or our Family Support Specialist.
