Biological Parent

One way to improve the way someone feels about adoption, particularly an adoptee, requires the use of positive adoption-related language. Adopters are advised to never call an adoptee's biological parents their real parents and to correct anyone who uses the latter.

A biological parent is more commonly referred to as a birth parent, who is biologically related to the adoptee but is no longer legally required to care for the child and its needs. An adoptee's curiosity about his or her biological parents is likely to increase as he or she matures. If the adoption was only semi-open or the communication post-placement with the birth parents has stopped this can contribute to complicated feelings about identity. During this time, it's important for adoptive parents to support the emotions and any longing for the biological parent, which will be stronger in foster children who are more likely to remember one or more of their birth parents.

Biological parents may also play an increased role in the adoptee's life after he or she enters adulthood and is old enough to search. The most commonly claimed reason adoptees seek out a biological parent is for medical reasons. This is one of the few things adoptive parents can't help with, particularly if the adoptee may have inherited a condition that would have been otherwise undetectable at the time of the adoption.