12 Adoption Life Book Ideas

I loved putting my children’s life book together. Their caseworker started it for them with all the photos she had in their file. I added a lot of information, including the 12 things listed below. I’d love to hear what you included in your child’s life book.

1. Information on where your child was born.
I requested brochures on the visitors’ website where my children were born. I used fun state facts and various landmarks in their city of birth.

2. Purchase an “On the day you were born” time capsule. I printed mine from this site but there are other places to get one. It shows prices of items and popular movies and songs when someone was born. It’s a fun addition especially for older kids who may not have enough information for a whole book.

3. Photographs of those who were involved such as case workers, agency staff, foster parents, etc.

4. Photographs of birth family, if you have it. We only have a mug shot of their biological mother so that’s what we used.

5. A page of your thoughts when you saw them for the first time.

6. For those in foster care, an explanation of why they were removed. Make this age-appropriate but don’t sugar coat it.

7. Include a journal entry on why you decided to adopt.

8. Report cards, school work, certificates, etc

9. Photos of your child that you received during the process. I have the very first photo I saw of my three kids framed in our living room but there’s also a copy in their life bok.

10. Your first photo together.

11. Details and photos from the finalization.

12. Include photos from your adoption party or adoption shower. I ended up having so many pages that I included this in a separate post-adoption book.

In 2002, I began to chronicle my adoption journey and created Forever Parents, a supportive online community for adoptive and waiting parents. Over the next year, we grew our support forums to include an adoption shop and a blog.  Forever Parents stayed active, helping thousands of people for over ten years.  I’m in the process of updating and moving all the posts to this blog, in the Forever Parents section. This post was originally published on April 12, 2007.