Sibling bonds in adoption: How important are they?

Sibling relationships, experts tell us, are remarkably complex and deeply influential. While even children close in age do not have identical experiences growing up, they share the same upbringing. They know their family history better than anyone else, and they carry that history with them into every relationship they develop, long after family members have moved apart, long after parents have died.

And even when adoptees maintain sibling relationships through open adoptions, or connect with birth siblings later in life, it is their adoptive siblings who share first-hand knowledge of what it was like for each other growing up and can share memories as adults.

What parents can do is provide each child with unconditional love, as well as help each develop as an individual without imposing expectations or creating distinct roles.