Core issues

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Like all families, adoptive families are unique in their strengths and challenges. There are, however, some issues that are intrinsically linked to the adoption experience in general. Attachment, grief and loss, openness, and identity formation are four issues that fundamentally define what is meant by adoption. You cannot experience adoption without encountering and addressing these topics on some level.

Other issues, such as trauma, mental health, and LGBTQ2S+ identities, are also common in adoption (remember, mental health refers to mental and emotional well-being and not necessarily to mental illness!)

All members of the adoption constellation and any professional working with people touched by adoption benefit from an understanding of these core issues.

Why have an open adoption?

Openness is about maintaining positive, child-centred relationships, giving your child a better sense of self and allowing you to know her better. 

What does grief have to do with adoption?

Part of being an adoptive family means understanding and working through loss issues.