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Preparing to welcome an adopted child into your home may have you asking many questions, such as whether you should rename your new child. Though parents do not have to change the name of an adopted child, sometimes adopting parents go through with renaming the new arrival to their family.
Some adopted children do not want a new name, so trying to change the name of the child may create needless conflict. However, there are instances when parents and an adopted child find a name change preferable. Psychology Today describes a number of reasons why parents decide to rename their adopted child.
Sometimes an adoptive mother wants to forge a closer familial bond with an adopted infant. Some parents name an adopted child after one of the parents. In other instances, parents may choose a name from a relative from the mother or father’s side of the family to help solidify the adopted child’s connection to the family.
In some situations, adopted children come from a biological family that was neglectful or engaged in criminal acts. A name change can promote security by shielding the child from unsavory people in the child’s past. Even if abuse was not a factor, an adopted child may have experienced an unhappy time with biological relatives and wants to bond more closely with his or her adoptive family.
If your adopted child is old enough, take the desires of your child into consideration when discussing the subject of a name change. Adoptive families vary, so what one adopted child wants is not the same as an adopted child from another family.
