Life Story Book
At any time before, during or after the assessment process, prospective adoptive parents may wish to create a Life Story Book for the child they are anticipating adopting.
What is a Life Story Book?
A Life Story Book provides a unique opportunity for prospective adoptive parents to express their thoughts in words, photos, illustrations and artwork about their family and how the child adopted from overseas will become, and became part of their family.
The Life Story Book will contain important information to help a child make sense of their adoption from childhood into adulthood.
While every child's experience is unique, it is important that the words and illustrations contained in the Life Story Book convey to a child:
- information about their adoptive parents, including who they are, when they met and where they live
- an explanation about why their adoptive parents chose to adopt them from overseas
- an explanation of how their adoptive parents became their parents and how they came to be their child
- an explanation of the circumstances of their adoption, including any information about their previous placements, significant people and their country of birth
- their ongoing contact with their country of birth and culture
- a concept of intercountry adoption that blends together the two countries and cultures
- a concept of adoption as a lifelong experience.
There is no set format for a Life Story Book as it is an individual expression of a family's experience of adoption.The Life Story Book represents the beginning chapter of a lifelong adoption experience for a child and should be updated at regular intervals during the child's life. The book should also be presented in a language and format that is interesting and easy for a young child to understand.
Please remember that while the book will contain photographs of the family, it is not a photo album and should have the child's adoption story as the central focus.
As a Life Story Book is intended for the child's frequent use, we recommend that it is durable and childproof.
What goes in a Life Story Book?
An example of a possible outline of a Life Story Book is as follows:
- This is Mummy when she was a little girl. She liked playing outside.
- This is Daddy when he was a little boy. He liked playing with his cars.
- Mummy and Daddy met when they were in their final year of high school. After school, Daddy became a teacher - he teaches other children how to read, write and spell. After school, Mummy became a doctor - she works in a hospital and takes care of sick people.
- One day Daddy asked Mummy to be his wife so they became engaged and got married.
- Mummy and Daddy lived in a brick house with a red roof and a big backyard.
- Mummy and Daddy loved each other very much and wanted to have a baby to share their lives with. After many years, they discovered that they were unable to make a baby themselves. After a lot of thinking and talking to each other and other people, they decided to adopt a child from Thailand. Can you guess who that child was?
- Mummy and Daddy had a big family who were all very excited about you becoming a part of the family and they all could not wait to meet you and get to know you.
- Mummy and Daddy also have a dog called Fluffy. Fluffy loves children and he loves you.
- Mummy and Daddy prepared a very special room in the house for you. It was painted in pretty colours, had a nice bed, a table and lots of toys.
- Some people in Thailand are unable to look after their children - this makes them very sad. Their greatest wish is that a family can be found to love and care for their children. Mummy and Daddy were found for you. When they heard about you and saw a photo of you, they fell in love with you and thought about you every day.
- Thailand is your birth place. Thailand is a part of South East Asia and is a beautiful country. There are a lot of temples and palaces in Thailand. Elephants can be seen working and playing, and are a popular attraction during festivals in Thailand. Thailand is a mix of cities, hills, beautiful beaches and the famous bridge on the river Kwai. Rice is an important crop for Thailand. Fresh fruits and vegetables are sold from boats and in the marketplace.
- After a long wait Mummy and Daddy became very happy when they could fly to Thailand on (insert date) to bring you home. This is a photo of when we all first met. Mummy and Daddy were so happy to hug and kiss you for the first time. While in Thailand, Mummy and Daddy visited many places and took lots of photos of your birth land.
- Together as a family - you, Mummy and Daddy - flew in an aeroplane from Thailand to your new home in Australia. Australia is a big, hot and sunny country with koalas, kangaroos, big oceans, colourful reefs, deserts and rainforests.
- Intercountry adoption means that you share the culture and history of two lovely countries as part of your life and that you have two families who love you.
The Life Story Book is limited only by your imagination.
Further information
If you would like further ideas or to discuss your Life Story Book, please call Adoption Services Queensland on (07) 3404 3112 or toll free on 1800 003 969.
- Last updated
- 19 October 2007