Adopted Children Should Know Their Biological Parents

Essay, Research Paper

?Giving birth is like pulling your lower lip over your head?

-Carol Lucawikz

When a mother gives birth to her child it is the ultimate bonding experience. And

when a mother gives her child up for adoption, it is a selfless act for the child?s best

interests, but not a painless one. Every parent that is involved in an adoption

arrangement will wonder and worry about their child for many days of many years.

Curiosity is powerful, and it is not uncommon to long to be reunited with one?s own flesh

and blood. Adopted children have a right to know who their biological parents are.

Health reasons, curiosity, and the need to bond with family are all important factors that

adopted children face.

Genetic diseases make it essential that a child knows who their birth parents are.

If an adoptees considering starting a family and needs to know his or her chance of

passing on a genetic disease, the identity of his or her parents must be revealed. Also if

an adopted child would like to know his chance of developing a hereditary disease that

will not show effects until old age, he will need information from his biological parents. In

the case of rare blood diseases or a needed organ transplant, an adopted child knowing

who his real parents are could save the child?s life. An adopted child should have the

right to access knowledge about their health, even if it means revealing the identity of

both their birth parents.

Every person wants to know where he or she came from. Most of us take for

granted that we know our parents, grandparents, and cultural background. Try to

imagine that you know nothing about your family background. A feeling of emptiness will

surely overwhelm you. Every time a teacher assigns a family tree, or a report on one?s

cultural history, adopted children feel lost. Of course adopted parents provide a good

and loving home, as loving as any birth parent would provide, but adopted children will

always be curious about their true heritage.

Today parents who choose to give their child up for adoption have the option of

?open adoption?. This means the birth parents can decide who they want their child?s

adopted parents to be, and the adopted parents keep contact with the birth parents as

the child grows up. The parents can support each other, exchange pictures and stories,

chat online, and this way the birthparents can be aware of what is taking place in their

child?s life and maybe even help out with some parenting decisions. Visits are

sometimes arranged and healthy relationships and friendships can be established.

Adopted children feel more secure knowing that their birth parents care about them.

When a parent has a child it is a crucial moment of bonding in both the parent?s

and child?s lives. If that bond is broken, by leaving a child oblivious to who his or her

parents are, the child will have an empty place in his or her heart. This place should be

filled with knowledge of his or her family history, perhaps even a relationship with a birth

parent. Each person on this planet has a right to know where he or she comes from. To

take that away from anyone would be stealing a huge part of their life.