At Open Adoption Support many of us use the term "first families" instead of "birth families." We do this in response to requests from first family members who are part of our community. This decision reflects our intent to help all members of the triad feel welcome here.

Adoption language is an emotionally charged topic. Many first parents are unhappy with the term "birth parent"; others don't mind it. An alternative commonly used is "natural mother" but this is offensive to many adoptive parents. "First parent" is an attempt to find a middle ground that works for most members. We also do not use the term "adopters" when referring to adoptive families for the same reason.

There is no official policy about what term to use when sharing information on the site. We only ask that we all respect that language is a loaded issue in adoption and to be sensitive both in our language and in our reading of other people's language.