adoption essay examples

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Last updated June 15, 2023

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Blog > Essay Advice , Personal Statement > 3 Ways to Approach College Essays About Adoption

3 Ways to Approach College Essays About Adoption

Admissions officer reviewed by Ben Bousquet, M.Ed Former Vanderbilt University

Written by Ben Bousquet, M.Ed Former Vanderbilt University Admissions

Key Takeaway

If you’re adopted, you might be wondering whether you can write your college essay about your experiences as an adoptee.

The answer is simple: absolutely! College essays about adoption aren’t overly common. And because the topic tends to be such a personal one, you don’t have to worry too much about being cliche or general. Reflecting meaningfully on your own experiences is enough.

In this post, we’ll go over three strategies for writing your college essay about adoption, and we’ll talk about two mistakes to avoid.

The first way to approach your college essay about adoption is to focus on the theme of identity. In general, topics related to identity tend to lead to outstanding college essays because they’re inherently personal and vulnerable—two foundational traits of a personal statement . Adoption essays are no different.

When writing about adoption and identity, applicants tend to focus on their identity prior to and after being adopted. For some, a personal statement might detail the journey of reconciling their identity at birth with their identity in their adopted family. For others, it might center on an identity they’ve held all along.

Whatever your story is, you can be authentic in how you present your journey with your identity.

Biology or Psychology

You could also take a more academic approach to your personal statement by exploring your adoption through a biological or psychological framework. This approach may work especially well if you want to go into either field.

Exploring your adoption through a biological or psychological lens might look like an investigation into your own experience of nature versus nurture. Where do you see similarities between you and your adoptive family? Do you have any traits you think are genetic?

With this approach, you can show a keen academic interest in a subject while also exploring your own background and identity.

If you were adopted into a family whose culture differs from that of your birth family, then you might choose to write about your identity through the lens of culture.

The majority of applicants who take this approach write about their journey reconnecting with their birth culture. Others write about what it was like to adapt to a new culture when they were adopted. And others yet discuss the feeling of being in between cultures.

No matter what your own experience has been, you can write a strong essay by reflecting on how your cultures have shaped who you are today.

Two Mistakes to Avoid

While you don’t have to think too much about avoiding cliches, there are two common mistakes to be on the lookout for as you’re writing and revising your personal statement.

Focusing too much on negative or difficult emotions

Adoption can be a challenging subject to write about under any circumstances. In a college essay, it can be especially difficult because the stakes are high and you’re writing for an audience of faceless admissions officers.

While you may have heard that you need a “sob story” to get into college, the truth is that college essays are most successful when they don’t dwell on the negative. That’s not to say that you can’t write about anything difficult that you’ve faced. But you want your admissions officers to have positive emotions when they think back on your file, so your essay should ultimately resolve with some kind of light, hope, or positivity.

Telling a story that is about your adoption, not you

As we’ve already covered, adoption is a solid topic for a college essay. But you don’t want your college essay to be only about your adoption. It should, in the end, be about you .

Whatever you reveal to your admissions officers through your adoption story should serve two purposes: 1) to give insight into who you are, and 2) to reveal something about your core strengths. (If you want to know more about either of those purposes, hop on over to our guide to college essays .)

So don’t simply detail your adoption or focus only on the aspects that have been positive or negative for you. Write about them only for the purpose of telling admissions officers something about yourself.

The bottom line

If you feel so inclined, go ahead and write your college essay about being adopted. You might approach the topic through the lens of identity, biology, culture, or something uniquely your own. Whatever approach you take, make sure to keep the focus on you, not your adoption, and to conclude your essay on a positive note.

Looking for inspiration? Check out our college essay examples . We have a bunch—and they’re all graded and annotated by former admissions officers.

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Home / Essay Samples / Life / Family / Adoption

Adoption Essay Examples

Foster kids in the real world.

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Problems in the Us Foster Care System

The foster care system in the United States of America is and has been in trouble for years. The reality of the system is often hidden due to the fact that this is not a commonly known problem. If The Children's Bureau does not address...

Sibling Relationships and the Case for and Against Placing Them Together in Foster Care Or Adoption

This essay aims to look more intensely at sibling relationships and the case for and against placing them together in foster care or adoption. It is clear that although the law namely, the Children and Young Person’s act 2008 along with other social norms, support...

The Problem of Orphanage in Society

A perfect world is unrealistic, everyone has imperfections. As a whole society we need to strive to improve ourselves and each other's actions and way of living. A specific social problem I have read into is the orphanage problem in society. There are millions of...

Adopting Pets is a Better Option than Buying Them

To begin with I searched about some good arguments in which people and breeders explain why buying a pet is a better option. First I found the one that said that a registered breeder will be able to give you official papers for the animal...

An Overview of Climate Change Adoption Programs in India

Bio-diversity is bona fide and right at present occurring as indicated by the IPCC‟s latest assessment report IPCC iv 2007 as shown by the report the effects of common change and their related expenses will fall excessively on making nations devastating to undermine the accomplishment...

The Flaws of Foster Care System in America

Many people question the Foster care system by calling it, modern day slavery and child trafficking. According the the article What You Need to Know About Foster Care and Human Trafficking it states; “According to the National Foster Youth Institute, it’s estimated that 60 percent...

Adoption: Negative & Positive Aspects

There are many young adolescents in modern day society falling pregnant by accident or on purpose. At a young age this could be caused by many different factors. Some of the people affected are unable to care for a baby due to the major commitments...

Current Conditions in Foster Care and Its Effects on Youth

The Foster Care System is an important system we implement in the United States. Children in need of homes and help happen all over the United States and all times. But what really goes on when a child enters Foster Care? Is our system helping...

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About Adoption

Adoption is the action or fact of legally taking another's child and bringing it up as one's own, or the fact of being adopted.

Open adoption (allows to be communicated between adoptive and biological parents) and closed adoption (seals all identifying information and communication).

Infertility, health concerns relating to pregnancy and childbirth, wanting to cement a new family following divorce or death of one parent, religious or philosophical conviction, decision to care for otherwise parent-less children, fear of inheritable diseases.

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