[m-mom]

Ever heard of a genogram? It's a way to plot families and their relationships. Using symbols you link marriages, divorces, deaths,children, grandparents etc. Women are circles and Men are squares...okay you get it.

Well, point of my post, Today in class I learned all about these. I was shocked that there was no symbols for an adopted child, what so ever! However, there is three different kinds of symbols for an aborted baby. There was no way to link adopted children with birth parents.

I went to my teacher after class, who is a practicing family thepapist, and told him that open adoptions are a very real relationship, and they too should be accounted for....with a symbol! The thought had never occured to him. As i left he said, " You're onto something."

[SchmennaLeigh]

Hmm, not true. Adopted children are shown with a dotted line.

Basic Genogram Components

On all genogram/family trees that I have researched, a placed child is shown with a dotted line, like adopted child, with a line through it, indicating placement, kind of like, in the link above, legal cohabitation and separation in fact or official, legal separation. That's how it was explained to me. *shrugs*

[SchmennaLeigh]

Another example of how to make a symbol would be here:

http://www.vanderbiltchildrens.com/u...ample_tree.pdf

A dotted line, shown with a slash to indicate separated or like the one half-sibling.

Just things to consider.

[m-mom]

Leigh-
Thanks for the info, I had not personally researched the topic...just going by what i was taught. i felt very left out! My teacher OBVIOUSLY needs to be brought up to date on adoptions.

[taramayrn]

I know there is a symbol for adoption, I can't seem to find my book...darn it, but I'm sure the webpages that Jenna provided have them.

[SchmennaLeigh]

m-mom; obviously!

My Mom actually knows more about this topic than I do. When I was pregnant with the Munchkin, she did our complete geneaology, I think back to Europe, with all the proper symbols, etc. I'll be learning it when I try to do my Husband's family history in the next year or so. I'll ask my Mom if she knows any more when I talk to her this weekend.