Weekend Wisdom: What Do I Call My Child’s Birth Mother?
Question: My husband and I are in the process of growing our family through adoption. It would be a domestic infant adoption, and we are hoping to cultivate a long-term relationship with the future baby’s birth family. I noticed that whenever I feel hesitation when thinking about openness, I can bring myself back down to earth by recognizing that any hesitation results from making things about ME, not the baby or birth family.
The one question I can’t seem to navigate on my own is this…what do adopted children call their birth mothers? How do I, as a future adoptive mom, refer to the baby’s birth mom? I want to respect the baby and birth mom; any insight on how families handle this would be so helpful!
Resources:
- What Does Your Child Call Her Birth Mother?
- 5 Tips for Navigating Sticky Situations with Birth Parents
- Positive Adoption Language & Why It Matters
Music Credit: Michael Ashworth
Podcast Producer: Megown SoundWorks
Image Credit: Zura Modebadze