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Hello. Definately talk about adoption from the very beginning. Our son, Zachary, was adopted from Russia when he was 15 months old. He's 3 1/2 now. We have always talked about his story of adoption and our "big" trip home. We also have a scrapbook that we look at that shows our journey. During our adoption process, I got pregnant (after 3 years of fertility treatments, miscariages....), so we also have a 2 year old son, Justin. We talk to them both together about families and try to explain to Zac that there was a boy in Russia whose mommy and daddy couldn't take care of him and there was a mommy and daddy who didn't have a little boy and God brought us together and that's how we became a family (and then Justin was born too, so our family got bigger). It gets tricky sometimes because now Justin wants a special trip and adoption day celebration...
We truly believe that Zac was meant to be in our family and try to explain that to him (as best as you can to a 3 year old). Our plan is that he will always know he is adopted and that he is unique and extremely special. Right now, at his age adoption is just a word, but as he gets older we want all of his thoughts of adoption to be positive and to prepare him to counter any negative he may encounter later on in his life.
We have a really good book that we like called "A Blessing From Above" by Patti Henderson. It's a great story that introduces adoption on the level of a 2-4 year old.
Dana
Zachary, born 8/12/00 in Krasnodar, Russia came home 11/27/01
Justin, born 3/21/02 bio
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