Orphaned

Orphaned

The recent movie “Orphan” has generated discussion in the adoption circle. In a nutshell, the “orphan” adopted by a young couple turns out to be a Damian of sorts, leaving the couple desperate as to what to do with their adopted, spawn of Satan, child.

It’s very reasonable that the adoption advocacy community would give attention to the unfortunate framing of adoption presented in “Orphan”. Meanwhile, I also can’t help but think, “Yes, but also remember, a bad movie is a bad movie.” Whatever the case, the movie does point to a sentiment that is probably a part of many adoptive parents’ experience- anxiety surrounding their new child’s largely unknown background. Inevitably, parents must wonder, whether consciously or not, “What did we get?” The child simply can’t be thought of as “a chip off the old block”.

No adoptive parents come to find they’ve adopted “the bad seed”. They discover they’ve found a little person who they’re crazy in love with. But anxiety can remain. The child’s traits or talents could be ongoing reminders that the adopted child isn’t fully and completely “theirs”. This could be disappointing or even threatening to adoptive parents.

Ever feel like there may be things in yourself that you’ve forgotten about- things that you wanted to do, or to “be”- that you put aside in the interest of “fitting in”?