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Adoption support groups offer social and educational opportunities for adoptive families, birth parents, and adopted children. They can provide advice, referrals, and a safe space for sharing experiences. Support groups can be formed informally or online and offer regular meetings, social gatherings, and educational resources. Adopted children benefit from meeting others like them, while parents can receive parenting skills training and advice. Prospective adoptive parents can find strength in numbers and learn about successful adoptions. Birth parents can find compassion and advice on reconnecting with estranged family members.
An adoption support group provides many forms of assistance and encouragement to those who have adopted children, those who have been adopted, or birth parents whose child has been adopted. An adoption support group can provide various social and educational opportunities. Many adoption support groups are specialized, providing support to families with children with special needs or with multiracial or intercultural adoptions.
An adoption support group is often born in a rather informal way, sometimes formed by a few families who share the common bond of adoption. Those who have been through the adoption process can share experiences and advice with those in various stages of adoption. Some adoption support groups start, or continue to operate, exclusively online. These groups can function without the requirement of geographic proximity.
An adoption support group usually schedules regular meetings or social gatherings. Social activities may include all-you-can-eat meals, mothers’ or parents’ evenings, parties, and other events. An adoption support group can provide educational support in the form of a newsletter, a website, training sessions, and referrals to community agencies and resources. Support services provided by a group might include small group meetings, collaborations with others who have been through similar situations, or informal relationships.
Adopted children benefit from meeting other adopted children. In these groups, they can safely express their feelings of adoption. In case of intercultural adoptions, they can make friends with other children of the same cultural background.
In an adoption support group, parents form friendships and trusting relationships with peers. They can receive parenting skills training and advice on how to handle adoption issues. Ideally, parents can provide and receive support in a comfortable environment.
Many prospective adoptive parents find strength in numbers. By seeing how successfully others have completed the adoption process, prospective adoptive parents may be more likely to proceed. An adoption support group is also likely to expose prospective adoptive parents to situations where children with special needs have been successfully adopted.
In the case of birth parents, an adoption support group can provide a sense of compassion. Natural parents and adopted children may share feelings of loss, embarrassment, or loneliness. Such an adoption support group can provide advice on how to legally and emotionally reconnect with estranged family members. In the case of an adopted adult, a support group can provide advice on obtaining birth papers. Some groups combine adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive parents into one group.
