"Do I have to tell my adopted child the truth?" This is a question that faces every adoptive parent. This work provides parents with the important knowledge of why adopted children need to know the truth about their past. The authors offer practical guidelines and tools that parents can use in communicating with their children the circumstances of their past. It presents the developmental stages of how children understand adoption and what needs to be said. The authors suggest how to share with children the painful and difficult issues regarding their circumstances, birth family and background. The goal is to provide kids with a gateway into life as emotionally and psychologically healthy adults, with solid foundations for identity and self-esteem. The book takes a long look at the practice of secrecy in adoption, the withholding of information from adoptive parents by agencies and withholding or distorting the truth for adopted children. It points out that the task of communicating to foster-adopted children about their past still challenges parents.