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We adopted our daughter from the foster care system so there are some pretty ugly parts of her adoption story that she, thankfully, does not remember.
I felt that since it was her book, it should have all of her story in it. That includes the good and the bad. There are 2 pages for her birth mom, aunt and grandmother. I journaled how they love her very much, and that she lived with them from the time she was xx to xx.
I also included the court documents explaining why she was removed from their home each time (we were not her first foster home) The court papers are not for everyone's eyes and she is not old enough to understand all of it, so I put them into sealed envelopes on the pages and decorated the envelope making sure that a sticker or jewel sealed the envelope shut. It is all there for her and when she is old enough to know the "whole" truth, we will read it together.
Right now she has the basics of her adoption story and we fill in details (at an age level) when she asks questions. She loves her book and shows it to EVERYONE. She enjoys sitting with me and reading it as well as adding pages to it each time we have photos developed.
It is such a wonderful bonding project for us that I started one for our current foster daughter and now both of the girls show off their books to anyone entering the house.
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