"Positive" adoption language

So, I'm trying to go more topical with my posts. Since there are no real updates, I thought it would be fun to explore adoption topics. Today's topic is what's called positive adoption language. This entry is posted with a warning.... Ryan and I have declared today Sangria Saturday (and I love sangria). So if I have misspelled words and grammatical errors, I blame the sangria!! Be sure to check out the question of the week!! I also added some pictures from our trip to Townsend!

When we had our home study our social worker loaded us up with articles. Many of these articles were on what's called positive adoption language. Its what I really think of as the modern language of adoption, rid of the "old school" stereotypes. And really, these things make sense but they are things you don't really think about until you are a prospective adoptive parent. I remember the first time someone said to me "what if their real parents come back some day?".... it kinda blew me away...I thought to myself "what do you think we will be...the child's "fake" parents?". Fortunately that comment did not come out of my mouth and the more I thought of it the more I realized I could have said the same thing to an adoptive parent a year ago and I would have never thought twice about it.

My purpose is not to make anyone feel uncomfortable talking about adoption (especially not to me...you should know I'm not offended easily). Its merely to educate. If you talked to me recently you know I've learned lots of new words "birthparent", "placement", "adoption plan"...and more... I hope you will take the time to read the below links and learn more.

http://www.theadoptionguide.com/files/AdoptionLanguage.pdf
http://www.perspectivespress.com/pjpal.html

And...if you are really into it, I recommend the book Adoption Is a Family Affair!: What Relatives and Friends Must Know