How You Can Help Make Adoption Awareness Month a Success

Every November, adoption professionals and members of the adoption triad come together to celebrate the adoption process and help share their stories and experience. This is known as National Adoption Awareness Month, and we’re proud to help spread the word at Considering Adoption.
But, what exactly is National Adoption Awareness Month?
National Adoption Awareness Month is an initiative of the United States Children’s Bureau. It aims to increase national awareness and bring attention to the need for permanent families for children and youth in the U.S. foster care system. Many of those in the domestic infant adoption triad have also embraced this month as a way to share their stories and spread awareness of all kinds of adoption processes.
An awareness campaign specifically designed for adoption has been around since 1970, when Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis announced an Adoption Week in his state. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed the first National Adoption Week, which was then expanded into the full month of November by President Bill Clinton in 1995.
So, now that you know what National Adoption Awareness Month is, how can you get involved?
Just as you can do even without a national campaign, you can spread awareness about the joys of adoption on your own. Use your social media accounts to tap into adoption hashtags (like #AdoptionRocks and #AdoptionisLove) to share your story and your support for adoption professionals and all they have done for your family. Make sure to follow important social media accounts for adoption organizations, and share their posts to spread more accurate information about what the adoption process is really like.
You can also directly get involved with adoption groups and provide assistance to those children who most need it. Many foster care adoption professionals are always looking for volunteers, whether that’s to help out at the agency or by donating much-needed supplies like pajamas and toiletries. Reach out to your local foster care professional to learn what kind of support you can offer to help these children.
Finally, one of the best ways you can participate in National Adoption Awareness Month is by serving as a positive example of adoption in your community. Whether you’re a birth parent, an adoptive parent, an adoptee or anyone else affected by the adoption process, be proud of your story — it’s a beautiful one. Don’t be afraid to share it and your positive experience with others to help them understand just how important adoption is in the world today. After all, about 135,000 children are adopted in the U.S. every year — so it’s definitely a more common way to build families than people may think.
To learn more about National Adoption Awareness Week and find out what you can do to help, please visit the Child Welfare Information Gateway’s website.