Today is National Adoption Day, which is a great opportunity to shine the spotlight on adoption in your family. Falling on the Saturday before Thanksgiving every year, National Adoption Day was created as an occasion for courts to finalize adoptions of children in foster care, joining them with their forever families just in time for the holidays. In 2014 alone, 4,500 children had their adoptions finalized on National Adoption Day; since its inception in 2000, over 50,000 children have been helped through this holiday.
However your family was built, National Adoption Day is a great time to open the doors to celebrate adoption at home, involve the community, and honor the birth parents in your lives.
National Adoption Day at Home
- Take a family photo each year on National Adoption Day. Keep the photos in a special photo album.
- Create a scrapbook for your child or, if you are a waiting family, begin one for your future child. If available, include photos of your child the day they were born, photos of the birth parents, etc. As your child grows, they can help you add pages to their scrapbook. It will also help you share their adoption story with them as they grow.
- Get together with other adoptive families, friends, neighbors, etc. and have an Adoption Day party. Blow up balloons, have a potluck dinner and celebrate your family and the thousands of other families across the U.S. who are touched by adoption.
Raising Awareness in the Community
- Ask your local library to create a display of adoption books in honor of National Adoption Day. If your library hosts a children’s story hour, ask that they read a children’s book about adoption– if you have a favorite story, suggest it to them!
- Ask your church, synagogue or other religious institution to recognize National Adoption Day by speaking about adoption or recognizing adoptive families and waiting families during an upcoming service.
- Ask your local schools to recognize National Adoption Day. Have teachers read adoption-themed books during story time, or incorporate a lesson about adoption into their lesson plan. You may also wish to take the opportunity to educate the teachers about appropriate adoption language!
Celebrating Birth Parents
- If you are an adoptive family that shares correspondence with your child’s birth parents, make a special card, send a heartfelt note or simply send them fun new photographs of your child(ren) enjoying fall. National Adoption Day is a time to recognize birth parents, as well.
- Make some holiday crafts that capture your child’s and the birth family’s heritage. Take the opportunity to talk about cultural diversity and the role it plays in your family.
- Sit down with your child and write a letter to his or her birth family. If your child’s parents are involved in his or her life, you can send the letter as a special gesture.
View our previous year’s blog post to learn more about this special day, and have a happy National Adoption Day with your family!
