National Adoption Day is Saturday, November 23. It’s a day to celebrate adoptions and finalize adoptions for children waiting in foster care.
National Adoption Day is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and we wanted to honor it by honoring the best TV adoption storylines.
We’ve chosen several adoption storylines, from infant adoptions to teenagers relinquishing their babies to special needs adoptions to step-parent adoptions. We hope some of these will resonate with you.
Adoption is an important topic to me because I was adopted, so I was delighted to see stories like mine represented in shows in the 1980s like Punky Brewster and Anne of Green Gables.
Since the 2000s, even more series have covered it.
Shows like The OC and The Fosters highlighted the importance of taking in troubled teens and accepting them as part of your family. They are an often overlooked group.
Callie and Jude Find Their Forever Family (The Fosters)
Callie and Jude worked hard to find their forever family, especially Callie. They had been in too many abusive foster homes and longed for some nurturing affection.
Jude adapted more easily. Stef and Lena almost cheered when Jude argued with Jesus because he acted like an irritated younger brother.
However, the series threw so many roadblocks at Callie that it seemed unimaginable, but that often happened in the system. Birth parents had to be contacted before adoptions could become official.
Stef taught Callie many lessons about love, including that love was unconditional. It didn’t matter if she screwed up; they would still love her.
When Callie graduated, she told Stef and Lena they were the first to treat her like she wasn’t disposable. They were in a unique spot because they treated their adopted children the same way they treated Brandon.
They worked hard not to show favoritism.
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Jack and Rebecca Adopt Randall (This is Us)
It wasn’t easy to choose between Randall’s or Deja’s adoption on This is Us. Still, Randall’s had more prolonged effects since growing up as the only African-American person in a white family was challenging.
The series highlighted how hard it was for Randall and how it frightened Rebecca that Randall might explore his heritage. Many adoptees struggle with not fitting in, even if they have a loving home.
Jack loved his son as much as the other triplets, and he strived to learn about Randall’s interests, including participating in a father/son initiation at a martial arts studio.
After Jack died, Randall felt more lost, especially when he learned Rebecca had kept his birth father from him for years, after knowing he had questions about his identity.
This was one of the most realistic TV adoption stories because it highlighted how it affected a family for many years, not just at the beginning.
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Regina Adopts Henry and Becomes a Better Person (Once Upon a Time)
Regina from Once Upon a Time started out evil, but becoming a mom and loving someone else changed her.
Being around children always brought Regina joy. She enjoyed being around Owen. Robin Hood commented she had a soft spot for them when she was kind to Roland.
Therefore, seeing Henry’s adoption story made perfect sense. It started out as a way to bring meaning to her life.
She wasn’t prepared for a crying infant, but she fell in love with baby Henry and refused to give him back after all.
Like any other mother, she was determined to protect her son. Since that was Regina, it came with mixed results until Peter Pan kidnapped him.
That was the beginning of her transformation. She would do anything or work with anybody to save her son. Her love for Henry broke the latest curse on Storybrooke.
While Once Upon a Time was a fantasy series, it demonstrated how an adoptive mother and birth mother could eventually work together for the child’s sake.
Regina and Emma despised each other initially but were like family by the series’ end.
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Olivia Adopts Noah (Law & Order: SVU)
Noah’s adoption story was more complicated than a typical infant adoption. Olivia and Amanda Rollins found Noah in an abandoned motel room of some pornography producers. Soon after, his birth mom, Ellie Porter, was attacked again and died.
Olivia petitioned to be Noah’s guardian, and everything she did was scrutinized. It seemed like if Noah became sick, it was her fault for being a single working mother.
Things worsened when SVU prosecuted Johnny for his crimes, but he wanted paternity rights to Noah, Olivia’s worst nightmare. After Johnny D died, Olivia assumed there were no more living relatives and that she and Noah would live relatively happily together.
Unlike in Once Upon a Time, Noah’s birth family gave Olivia grief, and she needed to set boundaries. That sometimes happens in real life, and that’s why there are closed adoptions, and adoptive parents have rights.
Sheila Porter never should have been able to contact her that easily.
As Noah grows older, he has become more curious about his birth father, but we haven’t officially seen Olivia confront that delicate subject yet. It’s unique to his case.
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Simone Keeps in Touch With Baby Shay (All American/All American: Homecoming)
Many of these TV adoption storylines are from the perspectives of the adoptive parents or the adoptees. Simone’s arc offered an important perspective from a birth mother’s POV.
It was difficult not to sympathize with Simone since her mother, Tina, basically ordered her to give her baby up, or they would disown her. It should have been her decision while she was in high school and had her life ahead of her.
Her dad was the only one who showed her compassion after she delivered her infant son while barely looking at him. Maybe if Simone had taken those few moments to hold her son, she wouldn’t have had doubts.
Simone didn’t want her son back. She wanted assurance that he was cared for, and when she saw him laughing, she knew he was happy with the Douglases.
They were more gracious than most people. I loved their philosophy that Shay had two moms in his life, and Simone could stop by sometimes, which we saw visits in All American: Homecoming.
These are the best situations, but they don’t often happen.
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Families Come In Different Forms (Modern Family)
While Modern Family provided many laughs, it also taught us that families come in many forms and don’t need traditional roles. One of the most important things Cam and Mitch showed Lily was they were a family because of their love for one another.
Love and feeling like they are part of the family are the most important things to a child.
Since I’ve worked in social work and conducted home visits, I loved the scenes when the case worker visits the house and finds it a mess. It looked lived-in, and it seemed like the child had fun.
Modern Family did so many essential aspects right. For example, they created a storybook about Lily’s adoption so she would know that she was wanted. That’s important since many children question why their other parents abandoned them.
While Cam and Mitch encouraged Lily to learn about her Vietnamese heritage, she always seemed right at home with her dads.
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Unlikely Allies and Punky Power (Punky Brewster)
Whoever thought a spunky little girl and a grouchy old man would make a good fit? But they did! Many of us admired Punky Brewster for her survival skills and desire to live independently, but she still needed care and supervision.
It was easy to understand why the DCFS initially hesitated about making Henry Punky’s foster father. He was older, unmarried, and never had children.
However, something about Punky warmed even the grouchiest of hearts, and the social worker saw that, as well as Punky’s fear of the orphanage.
There were many challenges as Henry had to give up his space, so Punky felt welcome and assured her he’d always be there. They still had to convince the system they were a good match, which presented many challenges.
Punky Brewster was so popular that Peacock rebooted it in 2021, and Punky met and fostered a little girl, Izzy, who resembled her younger self.
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Anne Brings Joy to the Cuthberts (Anne of Green Gables)
Megan Follows will always be Anne Shirley to me. The Canadian version taught many viewers the importance of adopting an older child and how an imagination gets them through the darkness of foster care.
Neither Matthew nor Marilla Cuthbert ever married, and their parenting styles differed greatly, but they both loved Anne. Matthew fell for her the minute she chattered on the way home.
While Marilla was stricter, she often had to hide her laughter over some of Anne’s antics before scolding her, especially when she smashed her slate over Gilbert’s head.
Matthew was outwardly more affectionate, but the two women learned how to express their love better after Matthew’s death.
Anne’s adoption story showed that older children shouldn’t lose hope. It was so popular that Netflix redid it with a modernized version, Anne With An E.
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The Cohens Adopt Ryan (The OC)
Ryan’s adoption on The OC seemed similar to Callie’s on The Fosters. He ran into trouble, and Sandy Cohen brought him home.
While initially, Kirsten was wary about keeping him, once she met Ryan’s biological mother, Dawn, she insisted Ryan stay with them. Shortly after that, they officially became his legal family.
Soon, Ryan seemed to have been part of the family for years as Ryan and Seth became close friends. Kirsten even commented once that she had forgotten Ryan had another family because he meshed so well in theirs.
Sandy Cohen was one of the best TV dads, initially making Ryan feel loved and motivated. One of the best scenes is from the pilot when he teaches him how to tie a tie in a father-son bonding moment.
However, he was present throughout the series, motivating Ryan to try harder in school and helping him find peace after Marissa was killed.
The OC Online
Arizona Adopts Sofia (Grey’s Anatomy)
It’s rare that a child leads the story, but Sofia has since she was born. Since Callie and Arizona were together when she was born, Arizona legally adopted her in a second-parent adoption. She knew she wanted to be in her life forever.
Things became messy when they divorced, and Callie moved across the country, wanting to take Sofia with her.
While Grey’s Anatomy is fictional, the laws state that Arizona should have been given as much courtesy as Callie since she was also Sofia’s legal mother.
Therefore, her defense was so poignant when she stated that she chose to be Sofia’s mother, and it was the best decision she made. That is the epitome of being an adoptive parent.
So was the fact that she chose to share custody with Callie for her daughter’s sake, even though she was awarded full custody.
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Lily Accepts Chuck as One of Her Own (Gossip Girl)
Chuck’s situation on Gossip Girl was different. Lily technically adopted him after Bart died, though they discussed it while they were still married.
If she was his legal guardian, he would inherit Bass Industries when he became an adult. But it was more than that.
She was the only adult who ever loved him as he was and often reminded him that she loved him like one of her own.
Many times, Lily’s scenes with Chuck were so heartfelt and loving as they schemed together or built each other up.
They were the best family relationship in the series and highlighted the strength of a stepparent and child relationship.
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These are only a few of the best TV adoption storylines. Did we cover your favorite?
Let us know in the comments below.