Upon adopting our son, I was worried about how I could possibly keep his birth parents up-to-date with the latest in life. The written word is always a great way to update birth parents, but photos offer a deeper look into the awesomeness of life.
I knew, at least for me, that this would take a conscious effort. I love taking photos, but rarely do I remember to whip out my camera until the moment has passed! Yes, it is important to be in the moment, but there is also no problem in snapping a photo! Luckily, I was blessed with an adorable ginger monster who is always hamming it up for the camera.
After placement, I set up a blog that is used only for posting photos of Harley. It’s been a great way for me to document Harley’s life in photos without having to print and mail each one. Not only do our son’s birth parents get to check in on the happenings whenever they want, but they can share the site with other family members and friends.
Life is naturally busy, and I don’t always get enough time to upload photos to the blog. We have expressed to Harley’s birth parents that they are welcome to text, call, or email any time to get a photo of Harley. This may not be applicable to all open adoptions, but it has worked well with ours! This way Harley’s birth parents can get a real-time photo and feel connected to him even though we aren’t able to visit as much as we’d like.
Photo sharing has also been great for me! I don’t even feel bad that I take over 1,000 pictures of my son every month. His life is being well documented, and these are photos that I’ll be able to show his future wife, photos that I’ll be able to embarrass him with, and photos that will show him what a happy childhood he had. Memories can fail us, but photos can remind us.
There are many different ways of keeping in touch with birth parents, and this is one of the most popular and easy ways to keep them involved and up to date!
