Name Change

In the story, "Fattening for Gabon" I thought it was interesting how the NGO "mother" changed both of the children's names. It seemed very wrong to me and it was obvious it made the children uncomfortable. I think this is a good topic to look into because the children's names represent who they are. A name is a very important part of identity it seems like. It definitely sways the readers (or at least my own) opinion of the woman. It made her seem very ignorant and even disrespectful of the children's past and birth family. Also, it made the children start to change their identity and it doesn't seem like this adoption is 100 percent set in stone, which could be potentially very emotionally damaging to the children. I looked a little farther into this topic and found a website talking about name change in adoption cases, especially international. It agrees that a name is a "link to the past" for an adopted child and the author recommends not to change the name.

http://www.rainbowkids.com/expertarticledetails.aspx?id=38