Accurate adoption language can stop the spread of misconceptions such as these. By using accurate language, we educate others about adoption. We choose emotionally ‘correct’ words over emotionally-laden words. We speak and write in appropriate adoption language with the hopes of influencing others so that this language will someday be the norm.
| Accurate Language | Inaccurate Language |
| Birthparent | Real parent, natural parent |
| My child | Adopted child; Own child |
| Choosing an adoption plan | Giving away, Giving up your child |
| Finding a family to parent your child | Putting your child up for adoption |
| Deciding to parent the child | Keeping your baby |
| Person / Individual who was adopted | Adoptee |
| To parent | To keep |
| Child in need of a family | Adoptable child; Available child |
| Parent | Adoptive parent |
| International or intercountry adoption | Foreign adoption |
| Child who has special needs | Handicapped child, hard to place |
| Child from another country | Foreign child |
| Was adopted | Is adopted |
| Birthrelative | Blood relative |
(Courtesy of the National Council for Adoption)
November is National Adoption Month. Take time to research adoption with your pregnant daughter, along with single parenting and marriage. Then, no matter which of these roads she chooses, she can feel confident that the decision was made with care and thought instead of off-handedly. When things are tough in the future (because life can be hard no matter what we choose), she can remind herself that she actively chose her road instead of saying "I wish I had considered ______."
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