Children who are adopted before the age of eight can be prepared for baptism in the usual fashion, but children who are older than eight at the time of adoption must be taught by the missionaries if they desire to be baptized, just as any other investigating person would do. Obviously, baptism isn’t a topic that’s necessarily addressed by adoption experts, so I thought I’d offer some advice and information based my own experiences and the experiences of others.

Many adoptive families are anxious to achieve the earthly pinnacle of their family-building experience – their temple sealing – as soon as possible after they adopt their child. With the adoption of older children, however, additional time is required. It’s important that the child has time to get settled into his or her new surroundings, including settling into the church routine. If a child has been adopted from foster care, he may have had varying church experiences with the families in which he lived, or he may have no church-going experience at all. A child adopted internationally may have come from an orphanage run by nuns, or from an evangelical mission children’s home, or from a social welfare institute completely devoid of religious influence (China being the obvious setting). Particularly for dyed-in-the-wool church members, it may be difficult to conceive of a life without church, or with a different type of church. But for the children, visiting our church for the first time can be a confusing experience. Children may be puzzled as to why there’s no band, why it’s not OK to clap in the middle of Sacrament meeting, and why church is so long. ;) For kids who aren’t used to much structure, it can be a difficult thing to learn how to be quiet and reverent when they’re expected to sit for such long periods of time.

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