How do you explain to your adopted child, that you're the only parent?

There's way too many circumstances left out of this question to be able to answer it.

What happened to the bio parents?

Who had the kid been living with up till now?

If you only just adopted him, and he's 5, why would he believe you are his parent? A 5 year old would have memories of the past few years and who's been taking care of him. This just doesn't make sense.

Etc...

Family isnt detrermined by whos blood you have.

I would sit down with him/her and explain in an age appriate way why mommmy/daddy is abcent.

slowly tell them little things. dont tell a 5 yo everything at once. i was adopted my my step dad and my mom never lied about any of it.

my uncle committed suicide because he found out he was adopted when he was 35. ( he found out from his fathers sister)

I would say that I am their mother but not that I adopted them. When they become older and more mature I would tell them.

I would never keep it a secret from them to begin with. As soon as they were old enough I would tell them and I would say that love brought us together from my heart to their heart. If a person makes something a big deal, that's when it becomes a big deal.

my cousins where adopted and they told the older daughter when they were adopting there son, she was very upset (she was only 7) she thought that her biological parents didn't love her and for a while called her parents by there first names. So I don't really know what I would do if I were you.

The kid might be kissed if you told them when they were like five or something but they will grow older and realize

This is why I think you should tell the truth from the start.

There's nothing wrong with being adopted. If you think about it... the adoptive parent CHOSE that child on purpose.

I have a relative who is a single parent to two adopted children. It's no big secret ... both children know, and they also know how much their mom and the rest of the family loves them.

That's all that really matters.

Explain but do it in a nice way and try not to upset them because if u dont tell them they could run away and try find their real parents they might think u lie

Honesty is the best approach when it comes to adoptive children. I would tell the the child that they only have a mommy right now because that's how things were meant to be for us. It in no way is a bad thing because all the love that two parents have for a child, is all inside of me so I love them twice as much. I wouldn't lie and say I was the biological mother either. I would explain to them that even though I didnt grow them inside of my body, they are mine. I love them unconditionally and I would die for them in a heartbeat. I know many people who have been adopted and love their adoptive parents and do not feel any resentment about being adopted. If anything, they are happy they got adopted and got to grow up with their adoptive parents. They couldn't see it any other way.

I would lie and tell the child i found it floating down the river in a basket like that princess in Willow or Moses.