<p>Orphans, in the context of this question, refers to early childhood orphans. </p>

<p>In the developed world, orphans and foster kids rarely experience a stable "family life". In other parts of the world, orphans' lot is typically much worse. </p>

<p>A person's upbringing/circumstances during their early years can be assumed (?) to have an outsized effect on their worldview and behavior during adult life [<a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100503161332.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">1</a>]. It is also known that people who have grown up in happy stable families are more likely to seek out and create that sort of thing for themselves, and conversely people who were raised in environments with lots of yelling etc. consider that to be quite normal [<a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/experimentations/201707/6-ways-rough-childhood-can-affect-adult-relationships" rel="nofollow noreferrer">2</a>]. </p>

<p>Current literature [<a href="https://clinmedjournals.org/articles/jfmdp/journal-of-family-medicine-and-disease-prevention-jfmdp-3-059.php?jid=jfmdp" rel="nofollow noreferrer">3</a>] also suggests</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Family dynamics will ultimately influence the way young people view themselves/others and the world. It will also impact their relationships/behaviors and their future wellbeing</p>
</blockquote>

<p>So, can an orphan, who has never experienced true "parental love" be reasonably expected to provide the same for their children? Conversely, are there reasons they might actually be able to?</p>

<p>[1] <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100503161332.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">"Early childhood experiences have lasting emotional and psychological effects"</a> (www.sciencedaily.com)<br>
[2] <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/experimentations/201707/6-ways-rough-childhood-can-affect-adult-relationships" rel="nofollow noreferrer">"6 Ways That a Rough Childhood Can Affect Adult Relationships"</a> (www.psychologytoday.com)
[3] Ubaidi, B. A. (2017). <a href="https://clinmedjournals.org/articles/jfmdp/journal-of-family-medicine-and-disease-prevention-jfmdp-3-059.php?jid=jfmdp" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Cost of growing up in a dysfunctional family.</a> Journal of Family Medicine and Disease Prevention</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-01T10:40:12.290Z
yes,
nothing is impossible at all. parenting is a learnable skill, which can be acquired with learning and practice. though one may be with some lacking, but so many things can be learned without having experience or knowing the background of that.
as you know, poet Harivansh Lal Bachchan , never had a drink, but he wrote a book Madhushaalaa - which is a benchmark of the knowledge of drinkers.
Raaj K Srivastava
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-03T01:08:17.700Z
No, I did not know that (about the poet). Impressive!
ahron
<parenting>
Can an orphan grow up to be a good parent?
ahron
# Can an orphan grow up to be a good parent?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-04-21)

Orphans, in the context of this question, refers to early childhood orphans.

In the developed world, orphans and foster kids rarely experience a stable "family life". In other parts of the world, orphans' lot is typically much worse.

A person's upbringing/circumstances during their early years can be assumed (?) to have an outsized effect on their worldview and behavior during adult life [[1](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100503161332.htm)]. It is also known that people who have grown up in happy stable families are more likely to seek out and create that sort of thing for themselves, and conversely people who were raised in environments with lots of yelling etc. consider that to be quite normal [[2](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/experimentations/201707/6-ways-rough-childhood-can-affect-adult-relationships)].

Current literature [[3](https://clinmedjournals.org/articles/jfmdp/journal-of-family-medicine-and-disease-prevention-jfmdp-3-059.php?jid=jfmdp)] also suggests

> Family dynamics will ultimately influence the way young people view themselves/others and the world. It will also impact their relationships/behaviors and their future wellbeing

So, can an orphan, who has never experienced true "parental love" be reasonably expected to provide the same for their children? Conversely, are there reasons they might actually be able to?

[1] ["Early childhood experiences have lasting emotional and psychological effects"](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100503161332.htm) (www.sciencedaily.com)  
[2] ["6 Ways That a Rough Childhood Can Affect Adult Relationships"](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/experimentations/201707/6-ways-rough-childhood-can-affect-adult-relationships) (www.psychologytoday.com)
[3] Ubaidi, B. A. (2017). [Cost of growing up in a dysfunctional family.](https://clinmedjournals.org/articles/jfmdp/journal-of-family-medicine-and-disease-prevention-jfmdp-3-059.php?jid=jfmdp) Journal of Family Medicine and Disease Prevention

**Tags:** parenting

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: yes, nothing is impossible at all. parenting is a learnable skill, which can be acquired with learning and practice. though one may be with some lacking, but so many things can be learned without having experience or knowing the background of that. as you know, poet Harivansh Lal Bachchan , never had a drink, but he wrote a book Madhushaalaa - which is a benchmark of the knowledge of drinkers.  
> **username_0**: No, I did not know that (about the poet). Impressive!  

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## 0 answers

