Adopting More Than One Child
Many sibling groups are available through foster care adoption and international adoptions. Strong efforts are made to place siblings together for adoption because mental health professionals now recognize the importance of keeping siblings together in adoption in most cases.
Sometimes, adoptive parents are also interested in adopting two unrelated children at the same time. This happens more often in international adoption; some countries allow it, and some do not. You can refer to our Adoption Comparison Charts to learn which countries may allow this practice. In rare cases, adopting more than one child at a time may occur in domestic infant adoption and foster care adoption.
When adopting sibling groups or unrelated children at the same time, especially if you already have children, it sometimes happens that two of the children will be of similar ages. In effect, you will have created artificial twins (also called virtual twins, false twinning, forced twins, pseudo-twinning, or judicial twins).
Adopting siblings or more than one child at the same time requires special preparation for the adoptive parents and children. Creating a Family has resources on adopting siblings or multiple children at once. A few we think you will find particularly helpful are:
- Practical Tips for Fostering a Sibling Group (article)
- Thinking About Adopting Siblings? Things to Consider First (article)
- Overcoming Unhealthy Dynamics Between Siblings (article)
- The Impact of Fostering & Adoption on Kids Already in the Home (1 hr. podcast w/ guest)
- Disrupting Birth Order in Adoption and Foster Care (1 hr. podcast w/ expert)
- Adopting Siblings (1 hr. podcast w/ expert)
Many more Creating a Family interviews with experts, articles, and fact sheets on adopting more than one child and artificial/virtual twins can be found at the icons below.
Sources: Creating a Family radio shows below
Image credit: Steven Depolo
Additional Resources
