The Emotional Needs of an Adopted Child

The Emotional Needs of an Adopted Child
Sometimes people may be too concerned about the physical needs of their children without realizing that the emotions play a vital role in propelling them forward in life. Things can become a little more complicated when you are dealing with a child that you have adopted, whether as an only child or with naturally-born siblings. In any case, it is a given that you already love the adopted child almost like your own offspring, but sometimes there may be emotional issues within him that you will do well to deal with as soon as possible.
Since it may be more complicated to deal with the emotional needs of an adopted child, this piece should give you some insight into the situation whether you already have an adoptive but beloved son or daughter, or are considering looking into adoption. After all, the process of accepting it and dealing with the emotions of your adopted child goes way back even into the time when he has not yet grown up enough to understand what happened!
The first thing to consider is how you yourself view adoption. If you happen to go into adoption as a no-choice scenario for not being able to bear children, you may come into the relationship with some degree of bitterness about your own incapacity. As such it would be best to deal with your own issues and hopefully correct your own mindset of adoption early on. You can start by seeing it as a blessing both for you and your adoptive child, because through it you had been brought into each other’s lives. After all, without the option, you may never have gotten this precious life to care for as your very own. One adoptive mother put it clearly when she told her adopted daughter, “You may not have come from my tummy, but you surely came from my heart.” This way, you will meet your adoptive child with your own contentment at having him or her, instead of lamenting what could have been. For some strange reason, even unspoken cues of dissatisfaction can be...