During our first adoption journey, I had friends and family host not one, but four baby showers for us. These celebratory events were so beautiful and important to me for a variety of reasons. Perhaps you know someone who is choosing to build their family by adoption, or maybe it is you who is adopting. Either way, adoptive parents absolutely deserve a baby shower.
I firmly believe that first and foremost, a baby shower helps a new or hopeful adoptive parent feel like a “real” parent. Society pushes the idea that biological parent-child relationships, that having your “own” baby, is superior to adoption.
Adoptive moms often feel different or othered among other moms
Our third shower came after our baby was placed with us
She was a month old when she rested in my husband’s arms while I opened gifts in front of his family. Once my husband was off paternity leave, his coworkers and boss held a surprise shower for us at their office.
Each shower was meaningful and part of the journey to embrace our new identity as a family of three and a family by adoption. Though adopting is certainly a different, nontraditional way of building a family, it is no less important and meaningful. Having a shower helped us step into our roles as mom and dad, celebrating the arrival of our long-awaited child.
