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Should Adopted Children Contact Biological Parents? Essay Example

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Should Adopted Children Contact Biological Parents? Essay Example
Courtney Tan
When a parent gives up a child for adoption, it is a painful yet a necessary act. Most parents that are involved in an adoption arrangement wonder and worry about their child. Curiosity is a powerful thing, and it is common to want to be reunited with one's own family. Adopted children have a right to know who their biological parents are. Health reasons, curiosity, and the need to bond with family are all important factors that adopted children face.

Genetic diseases make it important that a child knows who their birth parents are. If an adopted person wants to start their own family and needs to know his or her medical history, such as passing on a genetic disease, they need to know their biological parents. Also, an adopted person should be able to know if they will contract a genetic disease themselves which require information from their biological parents. For instance, if the adopted person needs an organ transplant or have a rare blood disease, they will need to know who their real parents are to save their own life. An adopted person should have the right to know about their health, even if it means revealing the identity of both their birth parents.

Every person wants to know where he or she came from. Since most adopted children know nothing about their biological parents, a feeling of emptiness will overcome them. Every time a teacher assigns a report on one’s cultural history, or a family tree, adopted children feel left out. Of course adopted parents provide a loving home, as loving as any biological parent could provide, but adopted children will always be curious about their true heritage.

Today, parents who choose to give their child up for adoption can put their child up for open adoption. This means the biological parents can decide who they want their child's adopted parents to be, and the adopted parents can keep contact with the birth parents as the child grows up. The parents can exchange pictures and stories,

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