Our new Master’s of Social Work (MSW) Intern for the year ~ Stephanie Velez, MSW shares how a family supported each other through their waiting period prior to adopting.
The waiting process is never easy, but there are a variety of tips that could be followed to ease the anxious feelings many prospective parents may experience while waiting for a placement. A good friend of mine who was adopted as an infant recently told me about the most sentimental present she had ever received; she told me that her parents had opened an email account up for her when they first began their adoption process. The email account was set up as they registered with the adoption agency they chose and for every week that went by, they would write an email to their future child about whatever their current feelings were like.
It did not matter that her parents did not know it would be her they would be bringing home, but the email account gave them a sense of comfort and progress. My friend told me that when her parents gave her the email address and password to the account they had opened so many years ago, she was elated and shocked all at once. How could my parents be writing to me before they even knew it would be me they would call their daughter?
The emails written to their future child gave the parents a sense of comfort and hope for the future that they could finally be united with their beautiful baby. Since the adoption process provokes a lot of self-reflection, the email account expressed her parents’ wide range of feelings.. The emails spoke about their hopes and dreams of finally holding their child, along with the struggles they had felt during the waiting period. Just as an adopted child’s adoption story is theirs to cherish, this email gave an adopted child insight to the journey her and her parents had embarked on, together.
There are so many ways to feel prepared for your adoption journey and this email account idea is a perfect example of how innovative parents can be throughout their waiting process. Prospective parents do not necessarily need to open up an email account to be able to communicate their feelings about the process but it is certainly an option for those that like journaling types of activities.
Read More from the Adoption STAR Staff:
- Wendy Lane: Basic Principles of Counseling
- Sue Shaw: Making Promises You Can’t Keep
- Sue Reardon: Portrait of Open Adoption
- Lori Craig: Unexpectedly Landing a Job in the Field of Adoption
- Michael Hill: Two Different Open Adoption Plans within One Family
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