From an angel-faced terror to a boy so disruptive he had to be sent back, we count seven adoptions that went terribly wrong.
7 – At Wit’s End,
- An overwhelmed mother on a parenting forum shared her frustration over having an adopted daughter who takes pleasure in angering and hurting other family members.
- The family tried counselling, medication and special therapy, but had no success. Every day, her child vindictively yells, screams and torments their siblings. The kid’s favourite catchphrase is ‘I hate you!’
- The mother has grown resentful and feels her family is unfairly paying for the mistakes that made their adopted child this way. It has caused many problems, even putting a strain on her marriage.
6 – Traumatic Past,
- Many adoptive parents believe the love and care they have will be enough to erase a child’s traumatic past, but this isn’t always the case.
- Melissa and Todd Puchalla are one such family. They adopted sixteen-year-old Liberian girl Quita, but quickly discovered she had severe health and behavioural problems. Fearing she was too violent and unpredictable, they experienced buyer’s remorse and handed her off to parents in another state – who they found via a Yahoo! Message board. No attorneys or welfare officials were involved in the exchange.
- Cases like this are extremely common – particularly with international adoptions.
5 – Poor Fit,
- A Reddit user wrote that she wasted ten years of her life with a hostile adopted child who never assimilated into their new family.
- Unlike sugar-coated Hollywood adoption stories, the adopters described their experience as ‘a living hell’. They claimed they were ill-prepared and kept in the dark about the true nature of Eastern European orphanages and Reactive Attachment Disorder – a condition similar to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
- The family adopted their daughter when she was nine years old and endured years of lies, abuse, hatred and manipulations. At thirteen, their daughter openly gloated about getting away from them once she reached eighteen.
- True to her word, she moved out with an abusive ex-boyfriend the moment she was old enough, leaving her adopted family heartbroken and questioning what they could have done differently.