You adopted your child as an infant from a country on the other side of the world and brought her to Canada. You raised your child here; she is fluent in English and has some French, she plays hockey, uses the occasional 'eh' in her speech and adores Tim Horton's hot chocolate. She has a solid relationship with you and all other family members. She knows she's loved and has been raised with respect, openness, and affection.  Sounds like a good recipe for a comfortable sense of self, right? Not so fast. I didn't mention that she doesn't have any information on her birth family nor the circumstances of her adoption, nor is it likely that she will find this.  So what?

I'll tell you 'so what?'. Knowing our history of people and place is a significant part of knowing ourselves. Most of us just don't realize this because we do know who and where we came from. Yes, we take this part of us for granted. But for the many children who were adopted as infants with an unknown family history from a far away country this lack of history becomes illuminated. 

So, this is just a reminder to all of you loving parents who adopted children, your children's history is extremely important to them. We must remember that part of honouring our children is honouring their history.    

Judith Craig Morency, a Haitian adoptee to Canada, has documented her journey in finding her birth family. Her film, Adopted ID, premieres in Toronto on July 19, 2012. Check out the trailer at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPDv7ObJuvw&feature=plcp . For info on the premiere, see www.adoptedid.com .