Adopting a Child
Adopting a child is different from parenting a child of your own. While many of the day to day things are the same there are important differences if a child who has been adopted is to grow in to a well adjusted adult.
We all need a secure sense of identity. We all need to know and understand who we are and where we come from. This is more complicated for adoptive people as they have two families. A person who has been adopted is more likely to have a secure sense of identity if they have grown up knowing they have "birth parents", and that they were supported with any need they had to know about them. Adoptive children also benefit from knowing that if they want to search for their birth family at some point, they will have the goodwill and support of their adoptive family.