Adoption Talk

This chapter traces how parents communicate about adoption with their children over time, with attention to how children’s developmental stage reflects and impacts parents’ approach to talking about adoption—and the topic of families more generally and the topic of race specifically. Many parents described an awareness of and commitment to communicative openness. However, not all parents believed that it was necessary to talk about adoption—possibly reflecting a desire to avoid talking about difference (Kirk, 1964) and their own concerns about the consequences of doing so. Among the themes discussed include adoption talk at various stages, the role of the child in shaping the nature of adoption talk, and the possibility for difficult but honest questions and conversations to unfold over time.