Read the passage carefully and answer the following question.

Many of the keys to effectively parenting adopted children are no different from those for effectively parenting biological children: Be supportive and caring, be involved and monitor the child's behaviour and where abouts, be a good communicator, and help the child learr to develop self-control. However, parents of adopted children face some unique circumstances. They need to recognize the differences involved in adoptive family life, communicate about these differences, show respect for the birth family, and support the child's search to self and identity.

Following are some of the problems parents face when their adopted children are at different points in development.

Infancy: Attachment can become problematic if parents have unresolved fertility issues or the child does not meet the parents' expectations. Counselors can help prospective adoptive parents develop realistic expectations.

Early childhood: Because many children begin to ask where they came from, when they are about 4 to 6 years old, this is a natural time to begin to talk in simple ways to children about their adoption status. Some parents decide not to tell their children about the adoption. This secrecy may create psychological risks for the child if he or she later finds out about the adoption.

Middle and late childhood: During the elementary school years, children begin to show more interest in their origins and may ask questions related to where they came from, what their parents looked like, and why their parents abandoned them. As they grow older, children may develop mixed feelings about being adopted and question their adoptive parents' explanations. It is important for adoptive parents to recognize that this ambivalence is normal. Also, problems may arise from the desire of adoptive parents to make life too perfect for the adoptive child and to present a perfect image of themselves to the child. The result too often is that adopted children feel that they cannot release any angry feelings or openly discuss problems.