Adoption Quotes

“Was it the act of giving birth that made you a mother? Did you lose that label when you relinquished your child? If people were measured by their deeds, on the one hand, I had a woman who had chosen to give me up; on the other, I had a woman who'd sat up with me at night when I was sick as a child, who'd cried with me over boyfriends, who'd clapped fiercely at my law school graduation. Which acts made you more of a mother?

Both, I realized. Being a parent wasn't just about bearing a child. It was about bearing witness to its life.”
― Jodi Picoult, Handle with Care

“There," she said. She rocked him back and forth. "There, you foolish, beautiful boy who wants to change the world. There, there. And who could keep from loving you? Who could keep from loving a boy so brave and true?”
― Kate DiCamillo, The Magician's Elephant

“Love runs stronger than blood. Deeper than any name you could give me." - Maraly”
― Andrew Peterson, The Warden and the Wolf King

“Since I was five, I've known that I was adopted, which is a politically correct term for being clueless about one's own origins.”
― Jodi Picoult, Handle with Care

“My life has been shaped by the decision two people made over 24 years ago. They decided to adopt a child. They got me, and I got a chance at the kind of life all children deserve.”
― Karen Fowler, Reflections on Motherhood

“She wasn't tracking down her father to learn more about him. She was tracking him down to learn more about herself.”
― Brad Meltzer, The Inner Circle

“It's easy to side with the top dogs? But, we gain credit/karma points for siding with the poor. And just because some of us are poor, does not mean we are poor in spirit.”
― Janine Myung Ja, Adoption Stories

“Anyone who ever wondered how much they could love a child who did not spring from their own loins, know this: it is the same. The feeling of love is so profound, it's incredible and surprising.”
― Nia Vardalos, Instant Mom

“love has little to do with blood relations and more to do with who you choose to bleed for”
― Trista Mateer, Aphrodite Made Me Do It

“I believe one of the most sacrificial acts of love adoptive parents can do is to give up their preconceptions and agendas about what their child's views "should" be and be open to hear the conflicting emotions and thoughts their child often experiences.”
― Sherrie Eldridge, Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew

“I reached down and picked up a baseball bat at my feet and I flung it as hard as it could. It circled and arced high in the air until it slammed against the side of the dining hall with a crack and fell.
I sat down in the dirt. Then I lay down in the dirt.
Because not only was there no trail to follow, there was no evidence he’d ever been here.
There was no evidence any of them had been here.”
― Laura Anderson Kurk, Perfect Glass

“I hold my daughter in my arms and thank God for bringing her to me. If the standard route for creating a family had worked for me, I wouldn't have met this child. I needed to know her. I needed to be her mother. I know now why all those events happened. Or didn't happen. So I could meet this little girl. She is, in every way, my daughter. I am carrying my Funny Gift from God and all is good.”
― Nia Vardalos, Instant Mom

“Adoption is a redemptive response to tragedy that happens in this broken world.”
― Katie J. Davis, Kisses from Katie

“Adoption was such a positive alternative to abortion, a way to save one life and brighten two more: those of the adoptive parents.”
― George W. Bush, Decision Points

“Orphanages are the only places that ever left me feeling empty and full at the same time.”
― John M. Simmons

“And even though I adore the fact that Francesca has Ben's eyes, I also see now that her biological connection to us is irrelevant. She is her own little person. She is Francesca. If we weren't her "natural" parents, we would still have loved her just as much.”
― Liane Moriarty, What Alice Forgot

“Orphans? Would you really? Adopt children?"
"There are advantages. If they turn out badly, we can blame their natural parents. We can also choose our own assortment of ages and genders. We can even get them ready-grown, if we wish.”
― Loretta Chase, Captives of the Night

“It is not imitation that makes sons. It is sonship that make imitators.”
― Martin Luther

“What is less often noticed is that it is precisely the kind of moral instruction that parents are constantly trying to give their children — concrete, imaginative, teaching general principles from particular instances, and seeking all the time to bring the children to appreciate and share the parent's own attitudes and view of life… The all-embracing principles of conduct”
― J.I. Packer, Knowing God

“I'm glad you were both here," I finally manage, thinking how strange it is to be standing with the two people who made you, something most kids take for granted every day of their lives.”
― Emily Giffin, Where We Belong

“Because now I know what I have been waiting for. I know exactly why the other processes didn't work. I know I was supposed to wait for this little girl.”
― Nia Vardalos, Instant Mom

“For my sake,” he said firmly, addressing the air in front of him as though it were a tribunal, “I dinna want ye to bear another child. I wouldna risk your loss, Sassenach,” he said, his voice suddenly husky. “Not for a dozen bairns. I’ve daughters and sons, nieces and nephews, grandchildren—weans enough.”

He looked at me directly then, and spoke softly.

“But I’ve no life but you, Claire.”

He swallowed audibly, and went on, eyes fixed on mine.

“I did think, though . . . if ye do want another child . . . perhaps I could still give ye one.”
― Diana Gabaldon, The Fiery Cross

“In the world of the Bible, one’s identity and one’s vocation are all bound up in who one’s father is. Men are called “son of” all of their lives (for instance, “the sons of Zebedee” or “Joshua, the son of Nun”). There are no guidance counselors in ancient Canaan or first-century Capernaum, helping “teenagers” decide what they want “to be” when they “grow up.” A young man watches his father, learns from him, and follows in his vocational steps. This is why “the sons of Zebedee” are right there with their father when Jesus finds them, “in their boat mending the nets” (Mark 1:19-20).

The inheritance was the engine of survival, passed from father to son, an economic pact between generations. To lose one’s inheritance was to pilfer for survival, to become someone’s slave.”
― Russell D. Moore, Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families & Churches

“They had always dreamed of a large family but have now realized that they would be equally blessed to have even one child.”
― Jane Green, Another Piece of My Heart

“I love Russia because Russia gave me you.”
― John M. Simmons, To Sing Frogs

“Meeting your adoptive baby is like being set up on a blind date with someone you will have to spend the next eighteen years with. You care about looks, because you desperately want to fall in love with the stranger who will be your child.”
― Jana Wolff, Secret Thoughts of an Adoptive Mother

“I'm eternally grateful to {our birth mother}, but wish I had never needed her. It's a loaded friendship, a complex connection.”
― Jana Wolff, Secret Thoughts of an Adoptive Mother

“Listen to your hearts, parents! You are the expert when it comes to knowing your child. I love the Scripture that says we are to let the peace of God rule in our hearts...In other words, peace in your heart is to be like an umpire calling the shots. When in doubt--DON'T!”
― Sherrie Eldridge, Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew

“I knew, deep down, that I was different from my family. I knew just by looking in the mirror.”
― Alex Dalton, A View From The Mountain

“If we adopted Jack," I quip, "we'd have to give him combat pay for an allowance”
― Daven Anderson, Vampire Syndrome