Gotcha Day is a day celebrated by American families of adopted

Adoption

Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...

 children to recognize the day they received the child. The Gotcha Day is the day that the child was placed into the family's

Nuclear family

Nuclear family is a term used to define a family group consisting of a father and mother and their children. This is in contrast to the smaller single-parent family, and to the larger extended family. Nuclear families typically center on a married couple, but not always; the nuclear family may have...

 home for adoption, in other words, the day the family Gotcha. It is the most celebrated of adoption related events. In her book, The Joy of Family Rituals, Barbara Bizou wrote, Gotcha Day "is designed to show your adopted child how much you wanted him and that every year you continue to cherish him."

Rituals

In the book, Primary Care Pediatrics, the authors point out that the celebration of the birth of a child is practiced in many cultures, but that as a general rule, nobody from the adoptive family was present for the child's birth. Depending on the circumstances, the exact birth date may even be unknown. The book advises doctors

Physician

A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

 to suggest "an additional to the traditional birthday celebration, that is, the 'gotcha day.' ... the provider who encourages the adoptive family to commemorate the anniversary

Anniversary

An anniversary is a day that commemorates or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event. For example, the first event is the initial occurrence or, if planned, the inaugural of the event. One year later would be the first anniversary of that event...

 of their child's homecoming

Homecoming

Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni of a school. It most commonly refers to a tradition in many universities, colleges and high schools in North America...

 supports them in their celebration of family, strengths, and bonds." The "'Gotcha Day' is distinguished from the day of birth, perhaps marking the rupture of the child's biological family and her social rebirth into an adopted family."

While many families treat Gotcha Day's in a manner similar to a child's birthday, some treat it with extra care. Families will often exchange gifts, do special activities, and go out to dinner. One tradition entails the family standing in a circle passing a candle and sharing how having the adopted child in their family is important to them. Bizou states that the parents should "Talk about what it felt like to hold him, what you did first when you got home, how strange and wonderful it was to have this new life in the house. This story is part of a family legend." Children's Home Society and Family Services recommends that families "develop a family ritual to celebrate the unique way [the] family came together." Ni Hao, a quarterly magazine for families with children adopted from China, asks families to submit their Gotcha Day stories after the child's first Gotcha Day. Some families use the "Gotcha Day" celebration as a means to educate

Education

Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

 teachers and friends about adoption, in so doing it 'normalizes adoption, creating a social reality in which adoptive families can be seen as a normal kind of family.'

Criticism

While the term "Gotcha Day" has become the most common term used to describe the date the child is brought into a new family, some people (including adoptive families) criticize the use. Novelist and adoptive mother, Karen Moline wrote, "I find the use of "gotcha" to describe the act of adoption both astonishing and offensive. Aside from being parent-centered ("C'mere, little orphan, I gotcha now!") it smacks of acquiring a possession, not welcoming a new person into your life.'

Other uses

Families who adopt animals, particularly dogs, will often refer to the day they adopted their pet as the animal's "gotcha day."

In 2005, the Chicago Spectrum Press

Spectrum Press

Spectrum Press, of Chicago, was an early electronic publishing house. Dan Agin was the editor/publisher. Beginning in the early 1990s, Spectrum published new and classic works on 3.5 inch floppy disks, shrink-wrapped in red paper packaging...

declared September 15 as International Gotcha Day. The day is intended to be a single date wherein adoptive families celebrate the arrival of their children together.