Until science reveals more to help our children rewrite their genetic expressions and recover from the trauma they experienced, we must continue to provide safe, nurturing communities and skilled, professional support to allow them to process their traumatic experiences.

Each member of the adoption triad experiences the grief of it differently: the adoptive parent, the child, and the birth parents. If churches can minister tenderly to the deep losses experienced in adoption, we can, I hope, heal and experience the joys of adoption more fully.

Within the church, we have our own language (some would say jargon) to describe our faith. Similarly, there are terms used within the adoption community that—despite a generalized understanding—are commonly misunderstood by those who aren’t part of it.