My adult daughter and I both dedicated our babies Sunday morning. Our church has a tradition of allowing parents to dedicate their babies once a year on Mother’s Day. We aren’t baptizing infants; the parents are simply making a promise to raise their child in the Lord, before the congregation. The parents are presented with a certificate as a reminder and as a memento, to place in the child’s baby book.

A few circumstances made this year’s dedication a bit unusual. My husband and I were dedicating our nine-month-old daughter, whom we adopted privately through interstate last July. We also chose to dedicate our nine-year-old daughter who has lived with us for over two years, whom we are in the process of adopting. Our adult daughter and her significant other, stood beside us dedicating their newborn daughter.

It occurred to me; where else except in the world of adoption, would an infant be an aunt, and be dedicated in the same ceremony as her newborn niece? Where else would a mother be dedicating her newborn daughter, in the same ceremony in which her infant sister and nine-year-old, soon-to-be-sister, are being dedicated? Where else, except in the world of older-child adoption, would a nine-year-old be dedicated in a baby dedication with her infant sister and newborn niece?

10 years ago, my husband and I, dedicated our now adult daughters in a similar ceremony at this same church. I believe it is important to follow through with family traditions, such as an infant dedication, with your adopted children. They may not have entered your family at the age that your family usually celebrates a certain rite of passage, however it can play a part in cementing the child’s relationship to the family, and it is a public sign of “ownership.” By ownership, I mean that your family now owns the fact, that this child is one of yours, and the child feels more like one of your family in his or her heart, by experiencing the ceremony.

There are therapies for severely traumatized children or for children with attachment disorders that involve re-enacting their birth, or prolonged periods of holding while making eye contact. These therapies can sometimes help some severely traumatized children to bond. In a similar but less intrusive way, taking the time to plan special ceremonies for your older-adopted children can create lasting memories, which will help the child to bond to the parent, and the parent to bond to the child. The family traditions can also be passed on to the next generation, as in our family.

Read more on childhood disorders.
Read more on older child adoption Read more about foster care adoptions.