Many couples who are unable to conceive children decide to adopt kids instead. However, some couples do not want to adopt children because of their fears about being adoptive parents.
Babble shared some of the most common fears that many adoptive parents and those who are planning to adopt share. Learning what these fears are and knowing how to overcome them can go a long way to helping couples decide if they want to become adoptive parents or not.
1. Fear of failure.
The fear of failing at parenting children is constantly felt by most parents. Whether you are a biological or an adoptive parent, you cannot avoid making parenting mistakes no matter how much you try to avoid it. All you can do is learn from your mistakes and try to move forward and develop as a parent.
2. Fear of rejection.
Adoptive parents feel the fear of being rejected by their adopted children and many of them actually get rejected by their adopted kids. But do not forget that rejection is normal.
Any normal kid will have a longing for his or her biological parents no matter how kind and loving the adoptive parents are. The best thing to do is to accept rejection as a part of the kid's adjustment period and try to find ways to become an even better parent than your adopted child is longing for. In time, your adopted child will wonder how he or she could have rejected you in the past.
3. Fear of criticism.
Some childless couples do not push through with their plans to adopt because of their fear of being judged and criticized. Instead of getting scared, just remember that you will get criticized no matter what you do. Being proud of being unique and different is better and healthier than being ashamed of it.
4. Fear of not being able to love the child.
Many couples who are planning to become adoptive parents wonder if they will be able to naturally love their adopted kids. "I've never been able to make a distinction between children born to us and those we adopted," Molly Morris, an adoptive mother, told The Guardian. "It's the nursing and handling, not the giving birth, that has given me the bond with my children."