If you have been touched by the gift of adoption to grow your family, a great way to teach your friends about adoption is to simply live your life outward for all those to see. People will begin to ask, or you will simply just begin to share your story with anyone who will listen. We have a beautiful open adoption with our son’s birth mom and her family. So, I started a blog about it. Open adoptions are not all cupcakes and butterflies, and there is no playbook on what it should look it. We are just trying to figure it out as we go. Having the blog has helped our relationship grow and help us in those situations. At the same time, we are educating anyone who will listen, or read the blog, about adoption.
If I had the opportunity, I would talk to anyone who would listen about the gift of adoption. After we adopted our son, we went back and spoke to awaiting families about our adoption process at the agency we adopted through. It was a great way to share our story and talk to others who are going through the same process you did. I would check with your agency to see if they have any sort of support groups or education groups you could attend to talk about your story.
Once you are comfortable talking to people about adoption, expand your audience. Maybe you could talk to your church about speaking with others who are going through adoption or are thinking about adoption. We have attended a few different churches lately that have foster care and adoption support groups. This is a great opportunity to host an information meeting about adoption with members from the church. If it is a success, it would be a great opportunity to open up the group to the public. Not only will it be a great opportunity to teach others about adoption but you could also invite them to church.
Depending on where you work and your work environment, this could also be a great place to educate people on adoption. If you work in a larger company, you may be able to hold education groups as I mentioned above. If you work in a smaller company, you may be able to develop a closer relationship with your co-workers and talk to them about adoption as well. Similarly, depending on the size of the community you live in, you could also start an educational group in your community. If you live in a community that has an adoption agency, you may be able to connect with them to share your story and educate more people about the gift of adoption.
The best way to educate your friends about adoption is to simply talk with them about it. If they have questions, be willing to be open and honest with them about adoption. Be an advocate for what has touched your heart.
