After you have successfully completed the adoption process, it is now time to enjoy your life with your adopted child. Whether you have decided to start a family by having your own biological children or through adoption, it really does not make any difference. It will still be as enjoyable and you will still get to experience the same things, especially if you have adopted your child at birth or at a very young age. My husband and I have adopted a pair of twins when they were 1 month old and we were able to go through every stage of their lives with them.

So with the adoption application approved and you have your adopted child settling happily in your home, what is the next important thing to do? Whether to tell your child that he/she is adopted. It is indeed a really big decision but the related issues should have already been discussed between you and your spouse and decided on the final verdict before you carried out the adoption process. Nevertheless, you might wonder if there any professional advice on this. Well, there are different schools of thoughts over the issue of ‘to tell or not to tell’ and it is basically a personal decision.

If you have decided that you are going to tell your child that he is adopted right from the start so that it becomes a part of his life instead of waiting till he’s older. One school of thought feels that this is the best decision for the child concerned because he will then be able to grow up with good development and remain happy all through their lives. You may want to further enhance your adoption story for him by telling him that you have chose him and managed to have him because you loved him right from the beginning. However, be careful not to harp too much on this or your adopted child will feel that he is inferior to the regular children.

Another school of thought feels that this piece of information should be disclosed only when your adopted child is much older. This is to ensure that your child will have a normal life just like the other children who are not adopted into a family. It will prevent a loss of self-esteem and you will be able to provide more for the child in terms of his emotional development. By the time your adopted child is older, he will be able to understand that you had really loved and provided for him and the relationship will be less awkward. However, there is a likely chance that that adopted child might feel that you have cheated him all his life and will be very upset with you after you have told him about his adoption.

Whether to tell or not to tell, it is indeed a decision that requires a lot of careful considerations but whatever you have decided to do, always have the well-being of the child in mind and always explain to your adopted child that you love him.