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Did I understand this correctly. The parents of an adopted child expect the parents of the birth mother to pay for their child’s college tuition and to also provide for the college tuition of their other children?
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No. The BIOLOGICAL GRANDPARENTS of the adopted child have set up a college education fund. They are not financially able to do it for the other children in the family who are not biologically related to them. John and Suzy's (J&S) daughter gave up her child for adoption, let's call her Mary. A couple named Jess and Jason have one biological child. They adopt Mary. Then they have another biological child. It is an open adoption and J&S visit the home frequently. All the children develop a relationship with them, although only Mary is biologically related to them. The parents of all the children do not expect anything - they have NOT asked for anything from any of the grandparents. They intend to pay for the education needs of all their children. But J&S decided to open a college education fund for Mary only - who is their biological grandchild. They cannot open one for the other two children in the family as they can't afford it. |
| I think in this instance it isn't any different than a child's godparent deciding to set up a fund for a godchild. If one of my children's godparents does something special for them, I have no expectation that they should be doing it for our other child. The adoptive parents should let the fund be created by the bio grandparents for the adopted child. |
How is this an issue at all? It was very kind and thoughtful of them. Say thank you and be appreciative. What did you think adoption looked like? They should not be opening up college funds for all three kids. This is really bizarre; you expect that. My only issue with this and we decline money from the grandparents but that is because we are financially much better off and they struggle. I want to make sure they don't sacrifice thinking we need it when we don't. |
How is this an issue? Well, when you have 3 children who grow up considering a couple their collective grandparents and then those kids find out that only the bio grandchild/adoptee has a college fund do you not think that might cause some challenges? Or do you expect the other kids to just say, "Wow, wonderful that Mary has an extra $XXX for college from 'our' grandparents. So happy she won't have to get a part-time job to supplement like the other 2 of us must." |
Having three kids is a choice. Adopting one child after having two kids is a choice. A responsible parent would take things into consideration when doing family planning. My kids work summers and I'm not seeing that as an issue. If Mary has grandparent money, how is that a bad thing? They are not collective grandparents. They are Mary's grandparents. Same as if it were step-siblings. |
You don't have children, do you? It's standard advice that all children (bio or adopted) should be treated the same. There is no way that this doesn't negatively affect all the kids in the family. Period. Nice way to estrange the kids in the family from each other. |
| And this is why open adoption can be very messy. At the end of the day though, even though Mary's bio-grandparents are willing to pony up some $ for college, they were not willing to step up and raise her. That is a hurt which Mary will someday feel and which her siblings via adoption will not be burdened with. The adoptive parents should be okay with Mary getting this bit of monetary acknowledgement from her bio family. |
Maybe they were willing but weren’t offered or other reasons. I don’t get why you resent it. If it’s your kids save more. Simple. You choose this situation. |
Yes, I do and we adopted. The parents need to treat the kids the same, not the grandparents. |
| I also don't see a problem with this and I'm an adoptee and a parent to adopted and bio children. If there's an additional source of college funding for one child, it lessens the collective burden for everyone. |
You were wealthy enough to adopt, therefore you are wealthy enough to provide for all of your children, Start a college savings account for the other children. That is your responsibility. All kids will be equal then. Sounds more like reluctance from your part to do your duty |
It is problematic to speak in absolutes concerning the logistics of this issue because it is global, and situations that are no longer the norm in one locale may still be conventional in others. However, it is my conviction as an international adoptee, a feminist and a sibling to kids who were profoundly damaged pre and/or post-birth by their birth families in such a way that they have had no ability to cultivate truly meaningful relationships, familial or otherwise, and who not only have added nothing of value to family life but in fact have detracted from it, that bringing children into the world for whom one is unable and/or unwilling to provide a life that, barring unforeseen catastrophe, imparts the resources to become a well-educated, independently functioning and emotionally, psychologically and physically healthy adult capable of attaining reasonable financial security and also happiness via meaningful relationships (familial, romantic and/or platonic) and the use of his/her/their talents to benefit him/herself/themselves and society, is not simply profoundly selfish but ethically and morally irresponsible, particularly on the part of birth parents in societies where education is compulsory through at least age 16, and abortion is a viable option. There is no adoption "industry" without people having babies for whom the rest of society has to step up and care in the first place, and while every one of us deepens our collective carbon footprint, people given consistent stability in the form of healthy familial relationships and continuous access to the basics (healthy food, safe housing and neighborhood, excellent health care and schools and opportunities to discover interests and talents via rich extracurricular activities and experiences such as visits to museums, zoos, reasonable vacations, etc.) usually make up for that debt through beneficial contributions to society as adults. It's everyone's collective responsibility not to produce children who won't be capable of becoming healthy, independently functioning adults. So I am not particularly concerned about the "rights" of birth parents, especially given a context where courts often have given precedence to them at the expense of their children's well-being. (And for the record, I am all for instituting age-appropriate education on what it means to be in and cultivate healthy familial, platonic and romantic relationships, what it means to be a good parent; financial literacy, and the relationship between how we live and its effect on the environment that all should be a regular part of school curricula; free, unlimited birth control; the development of birth control for men; and accessible abortion at any point in the pregnancy. Re: this last: do I like the idea of late abortions? No, but I like the idea of imposing decades of unnecessary suffering via the birth of an infant born with, say, FAS even less). |
How much is in the adopted child’s college fund? Can you use some of what you have saved for the adopted child to equalize what the others have for college? Like, if you have 3 college funds, can you distribute them differently among the children so that the other two aren’t at a disadvantage because the adopted child has 2 accounts? |
What are you talking about? |