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Be Word Wise
Positive Adoption Language

The words we choose say a lot about what we think. When we use positive adoption language, we say that adoption is a way to build a family just as birth is a way to build a family. Both are important, but one is not more important than the other.

Try using the positive words when you are talking about adoption.
 
POSITIVE LANGUAGE NEGATIVE LANGUAGE
Birth Parent Real Parents
Biological Parent Natural Parent
Birth Child Own Child
My Son/Daughter Adopted Child
Born to Unmarried Parents Illegitimate
Choose Adoption Give Up
Make an Adoption Plan Give Away
International Adoption Foreign Adoption
Child with Special Needs Handicapped Child
Child from Abroad Foreign Child
Was Adopted Is Adopted
 
Adopted children become part of a family by law, just as two adults who marry each other become members of the same family by law.