305: The Right (And Wrong) Way To Tell Your Child Their Adoption Story

How we see ourselves as adoptive parents is intricately tied with how we see our children via adoption, and ultimately how they see themselves. Seemingly heroic narratives like “saving a child” and seemingly innocuous ones like “we were meant to be together” may have unintended effects that parents don’t see on the front end -- until after damage has been done.

Here to talk with us about taking the longer view right from the start – or wherever you are now – is a woman who is both an adoptee and an adoptive parent. Joanna Ivey helps us understand why such feel-good sentiments, ones adoptive parents often use as our entrance narratives, don’t always land in the intended way for the adoptee. She also reveals ways to frame our narratives to be more accurate, more loving, and more effective in building connections for the adoptee, for ourselves, and between the two of us.

Show Notes:

Website: OurChosenChild.com

Joanna on Instagram: @ourchosenchild

Joanna on Facebook: OurChosenChild

Tummy Mummy: How the term lands for people

Openness ≠ Contact: Animated short about the Inclusive Family Support Model

Transcript

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About this Podcast

Lori Holden (The Open-Hearted Way to Open Adoption: Helping Your Child Grow Up Whole) brings to you an array of articulate and thought-provoking guests with lived experience in adoption, each with valuable insights to share about the all-encompassing journey of parenting an adopted person from babyhood to toddlerhood to school age to teenage -- and ultimately to adulthood. Join us as we explore Adoption: The Long View.

Named a Top 25 Adoption Podcast