What's in a name?

 New life, new name.  

I have read this over 100 times of adoptive parents changing their adoptive child name(s).  

D is 3.  Three years he has had his name.  A name chosen by his birth parents.  A name that was thought of for this specific boy.  

Will we change it or will we keep it?

Here's the thing.  New life, new name.  This is NOT his “new” life, this IS his life.  He has been earthside for over THREE years.  Living a life.  A life with caretakers, hopefully, full of love and attachment. When he enters our family his life doesn’t begin.  It is another chapter to HIS life and this is the chapter where we are introduced.  We do not start over and pretend that his life did not start until he was with us.  His life started when he was born. As adoptive parents, we feel an obligation to honor his life before us, his caretakers, his birth country, and his birth parents.  Yet we wanted to give him a name that was chosen by us for him and keep his birth name chosen for him by his first parents.  A name that we think suits him, a name that matches that sweet little face of his. We chose Kit Damyan.  A name for his past, present, and future… always and forever.