I purposely gave my daughter a Cabbage Patch doll when she was three because they come with an adoption certificate and I thought it would spark some more conversation about adoption. My daughter is now very interested in playing mommy and she will often tell me about how she adopted her baby doll. Her doll adoption stories very much match what she knows about her own adoption. In addition, one of her favorite pretend play activities is to re-enact the day she was born. She plays herself as a baby and I act out how her dad and I met her at the hospital, cuddled her, stayed with her the first night, how her birthmom said goodbye, and how we brought her home.

Here are some responses from our
Adoptive Families Magazine Facebook Page

Le N’ Ge  I was adopted and always knew since i can remember, my girlfriends and I played Adoption agency with our dolls!!! I grew up an adopted 2 of my foster children.

Cindy Vaughn Harles  I haven’t done to much other than reading books with adoption type stories. My daughter is 3 1/2 now and would love some suggestions.

Vicki Slatton Vanderveen  We got our daughter Cabbage Patch dolls—complete with adoption certificates. She was five when we adopted her (and her two brothers), and enjoyed having a doll that was adopted like she was.

Kelly Jabour Pramberger  my 4 year old son was adopted from guatemala and is just starting to ask more questions about his adoption…he was playing with my friend’s 4 year old daughter who was also adopted from guatemala and they were wheeling around the dolls in the strollers and made a comment about the baby coming from another lady’s tummy and then the other one said, “yeah, her birthmom’s!”

Richard Sendrovitz - Our 5 year old daughter has always been creative and enjoys pretend play. She likes to play ‘family’ with her friends and sometimes even her mom and I.