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Adoption Times Two
Unique Issues for Families Adopting Siblings By Sue Poremba
Val Woo wanted to adopt twin girls. She was already the mother of adult children and a baby girl when she and her husband, Kevin, planned to adopt a little boy. But after some complications occurred and that adoption couldn't happen, Woo said, "I want twin girls." Three weeks later, she got a call saying that her wish was coming true.
Having raised children, the Woos thought they were prepared for adopting multiples, but the experience wasn't what they expected.
"I think the bonding experience was harder because the girls are multiples," Val Woo says. Twins tend to have a special attachment with each other in any circumstance, but as adopted twins, it is a very strong bond, which is what the Woos found. "When they were together, they focused on each other. I think that slowed down the bonding process with us."
Val Woo says she originally thought the bonding experience would take a couple of weeks, but it took nearly two months for her to form a solid connection with one twin, Taelor, and about four months to bond with the second twin, Harper.
"A majority of the time, it can be helpful and healing for a child to remain in an adoptive home with their siblings, and often assists with the transition period," Huhnerkoch says. "Siblings are often the child's only link to their birth family. Once placed in an adoptive home, it can be comforting and reassuring for siblings to know that they are not in this experience alone."
