Advantages of Adoption for Children [What You Need to Know]

Although there are many challenges when it comes to adoption, there are also many advantages for everyone involved in the adoption process.

For instance, adoptive parents get to realize their lifelong dreams of parenthood. Birth mothers can continue pursuing career goals while knowing their child is growing up happy and healthy.

But, what are the advantages of adoption for adoptees?

No two adoption journeys are the same. There are many unique struggles that come with adoption, but there are also advantages of adoption that apply to many adoptees. We’ve compiled a list of some of the greatest advantages of adoption for children.

Advantages of Adoption for the Child [A Lifetime of Love and Opportunity]

There’s no doubt that birth parents and adoptive families are integral to the adoption experience, but adoption is ultimately about the child. For the most part, the key advantage of adoption for a child is that they have two families who love them no matter what.

On top of this, your adoptive family is giving you a life of love and opportunity, and that is beautiful. In private adoption situations, your birth mother also made a selfless decision to help give you the best life possible. Their choice was nothing short of heroic and brave, and many women feel proud of their sacrifice that has given you the chance to chase your dreams.

We do want to mention, though, that adoption is not a guarantee that always leads to a “better life” with adoptive parents. Still, adoption allows many adoptees to flourish and lead a fulfilling, happy life.

For instance, there may be opportunities now available to you that otherwise wouldn’t have existed without your birth parents’ loving sacrifice. In other words, one of the greatest advantages of adoption for children is that they can live a meaningful life knowing how loved they are.

The vast majority of adoptions today are open. Open adoption ensures that adoptees grow up knowing their birth family and why they were placed for adoption in the first place. Research has also shown that a higher level of openness in adoption leads to the adoptee feeling happier in life. This is because adoptees can feel more secure knowing that both their adoptive and birth families love them more than anything.

“My family – both birth and adoptive – didn’t hold back,” Diana, an adoptee, said. “There is a lot more to adoption than the loss of a birth parent’s child or the adoptive parent’s gain of a child. Love and loss are mushed together and so are the families. I’m somewhere mushed in the middle. Pretty content to be there.”

Fulfilling Your Hopes and Dreams [Opening New Doors]

Another one of the advantages of adoption for the child is that children have access to new opportunities because of their birth parents’ choice to place them for adoption.

There are quite a few reasons why people choose adoption for their babies, and one of those reasons is that birth parents want to provide exciting new opportunities for their children.

For example, many birth parents may have needed more financial security to raise a child on their own. Or, maybe they didn’t feel they were in the right emotional or mental headspace to care for a child. Whatever the case may be, birth parents often want to open doors for their child that would have been closed if not for adoption. That’s why they chose the perfect adoptive parents who were ready to raise a child in a nurturing environment.

Here are some of the opportunities and advantages of adoption for children that many birth parents think about when they choose adoption:

• The ability to complete higher education programs
• The ability to travel throughout the world
• A safe and stable household
• A two-parent family
• More time to care for the child

Birth parents love their children, but not all of them are in a position to raise a child right now. That’s why adoption is always an option for those who wish to give their child a wonderful life. This is the key advantage of adoption for a child. As an adoptee yourself, you may have experienced this advantage firsthand.

Research about the Advantages of Adoption for Children [Diving into Statistics]

There are plenty of case studies out there that show the advantages of adoption for the child. To give an example, there is a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report from 2007 showing the advantages that adopted children have when it comes to health and extracurricular activities in schooling.

To dive into the statistics, this study also showed that 85% of adopted children were reported to be in “very good to excellent health.” On top of this advantage of adoption for a child, adoptees were more likely to grow up and have health insurance compared to non-adopted children, according to this research.  This case study also found that adopted children were less likely to live in a household below the poverty threshold.

This same report revealed that 68% of adoptees were read to daily as children. On the other hand, 48% of children who were not adopted were read to daily. Also, 73% of adopted children were sung to and told stories daily, whereas the number for non-adopted children was 59%. The researchers also discovered that adopted children were likelier to take part in extracurricular activities (85%) when compared to their non-adopted peers (81%).

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There are plenty of advantages of adoption for children, and you may have experienced some of these benefits as an adoptee yourself.

Although adoption can be challenging, it can also come with plenty of rewards. It is not exactly simple, but, as the saying goes, the best things in life are never easy.

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