how do you make a family tree with an adopted child?

6 Comments

1. Shirley T says:

   August 21, 2010 at 3:50 pm

   My niece has 2 adopted children and I show them as children of her and her husband. I would be very offended if someone had our family included in their family tree and wouldn’t do so. I normally don’t argue with people about how they do their family tree but that would be one time I would go ballistic.
2. Rene says:

   August 21, 2010 at 3:50 pm

   Use ARROWS,

   when u draw a family three, it would be like an arrow from UR grandma TO your mom , an arrow FROM ur mom to YOU
   an arrow FROM U to your kids

   BUT IN YOUR SITUATION the arrow to your adopted child will be oposite it wil be from your child to you, its a little detail in ur drawing

   hope i helped you
3. Monica says:

   August 21, 2010 at 3:50 pm

   I was wondering the same thing. My son’s father was adopted, and he has no interest in his birth parents whatsoever.

   My thoughts are that it really isn’t a family tree unless you’re actually a blood relative. You’re tracking your lineage … your ancestors, your blood line. An adopted child is no less yours (of course) but they really don’t have the same ancestry.

   But if it’s just for fun, like a project for the adopted child’s girl scout troop or something like that, just put them in as your own child. You wouldn’t want to make your child seem like she (or he) doesn’t belong.
4. Ted Pack says:

   August 21, 2010 at 3:50 pm

   That is a major hot button in our little hobby.

   Some people put the adopted child in just like a regular one and add "(Adopted)" to the birth date. Some don’t; they say the fact you adopted a child belongs in the notes, just like the kind of car you drive, where you graduated from college or served in the military, or your favorite ice cream flavor. It is interesting, but genealogy is concerned with genes, and you have no genealogical relation to the adopted child.

   "Favorite ice cream" is trivial; substitute
   "Name of the girl in college you almost married; the one with a glorious mane of chestnut hair, a shy smile and a low, throaty laugh, who still comes to you in your dreams, 40 years later"
   or
   "Business partner"; Hewlitt and Packard, Sears and Roebuck . . .
   or
   "Favorite teacher/coach/scoutmaster"

   All of those are important, life-changing relationships that are not genealogical.

   So - drop the child off the tree or put him/her in as if he/she was fruit of the parents’ loins. Just be aware that either way, about half the genealogists who see it are going to argue with you.
5. Researcher says:

   August 21, 2010 at 3:50 pm

   If you are attempting to create a genetic tree, then information on the actual biological lineage would be necessary.

   There are people who have traced the Genealogy of their adopted family and then assumed it as their own, although this is not accurate.
6. shortgilly says:

   August 21, 2010 at 3:50 pm

   Adoption is a legal relationship, just like marriage. If the child was officially adopted I add them and my software has an option for "adopted". If they were unofficially raised by relatives I make a note in the notes, this is where I tell the story that has nothing to do with recorded genealogy. I do have a lucky situation where one of my relatives adopted his stepchildren. In that case I can link the children to both their bio and adopted families in my software.

   On a hand drawn family tree, the child is usually listed and the line is usually marked with a symbol that represents "adopted" like an A on the line or such.

   If you are the adopted child and wanting to do genealogical research you have the choice of researching either your bio or adopted families, depending on your reasons for doing the research, or both. If you chose your adopted family, it should be so indicated that you are adopted.