To help parents find their answers, the Center for Adoptive Families established Project Succeed three years ago. Its mission is to enhance the success of adoptive families through the support and education of parents. Project Succeed offers support and educational meetings, a lending library and information service. Because adoption involves loss as well as love, loss of the birth parent. Adoptive parents report that their children have all kinds of ideas about why their birth mother gave them up.
Many children feel responsible.
Some say it was because they cried too much. But it is not easy for adoptive parents to help their adoptive children put the pieces together. Project Succeed gives parents the resources to tackle these issues in a number of ways. First, parents learn that their child's understanding of adoption varies with each stage of her development. Once parents understand how their child thinks, they can respond at her level of comprehension.