I taught a very inspiring class to an adopting couple yesterday. Realbirth offers a Newborn Care for Adopting Parents class, something that has basically come out of the growing presence of soon-to-be-adopting couples in our Newborn Care classes. Yet the educational needs of a family that is birthing and postpartum compared to a family that is adopting are slightly different, so we’ve now created a class specifically for adoptive parents. What amazes me about this group is how much more is demanded of them (education-wise) than from those of us who are non-adopting families. In addition to paying untold thousands out of pocket (since adoption is not covered by health insurance), adoptive parents are often required to take parenting and child development classes-unlike all the rest of us breeders. The couple that I met with yesterday had already taken a ten hour class on child development, bonding and building family which was required by their adoption agency. And even then they were still required to take additional classes (which is why they are with us at Realbirth.)
I find this really interesting, but I also find it an odd bias. I’m all for parent education yet here are these dedicated couples who want to share the love in their lives and be parents, and yet they are required to jump through hoops to prove their financial, emotional and intellectual ability to parent. Meanwhile the rest of us conceive, birth and parent often without any formal input, and classes are often considered an extra-or bonus- rather than a absolute core necessity. Although don’t get me wrong, I truly believe preparation classes and new parent support in our current culture are a necessity!
While the Realbirth community attracts phenomenal parents and parents-to-be who do understand they need some sort of road map through the unknown, wouldn’t the world be a better place if we were all encouraged to have some sort of formal parenting education and postpartum support?
Incidentally, if you’re adopting a child or you know somebody who is, and would like to get more details on our Newborn Care for Adopting Parents class, please do call us at (212) 367 9006 and we’ll be happy to help.
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