Dear Elsa,
In looking at my children’s charts I noticed that each one had some of the same themes as mine: the same conjunctions, the same packed house, the same aspects between certain planets. Then I looked at my mother’s chart and found the same thing.
Does this always happen? Do you think it would be the same with an adopted child, or would the aspects be similar to the birth parent?
I can confirm the patterns in families – it’s alarming, but have never studied adopted children For example, everyone in my family has Mars Mercury in some form, whether they have these planets in aspect or Mars in Mercury’s sign or Mercury in Aries or whatever. Like this:
I have Mars (Aries) conjunct Mercury in the 9th house (Jupiter). The conjunction is in Libra.
My son has Mercury in Aries (Mars sign) conjunct Jupiter (9th house). His conjunction is in the 7th (Libra) house.
Now those two configurations describe very similar energy sort of like there are any number of ways to add up to 10 and it’s the same way with my daughter.
I wrote for a year about Saturn Neptune (Hall Of Mirrors) – I am of this ilk and so is my daughter. She has Saturn in Pisces (Neptune’s sign) and Neptune in Capricorn. I have neither, but she obviously follows suit in her own way. The universe is gorgeous like this and point is these type similarities go beyond the obvious things you mention.
I am pretty sure if you looked at adopted families you would find situations like this but I cannot offer real life examples because I have no access to data.
Anyone else?
I had another thought:
I am assuming adoption at birth. If someone was adopted as a teen it might be a different story. The stepparent may be more part of a short term presence in a person’s life – representing a transit rather than something hard-wired.
After reading all of Michael Newton’s books I have no doubt that there are no coincidences …or mistakes where it concerns relationships.
I have no factual evidence to support my beliefs. I just think that you arrive at your destination in many different ways and I’d bet they (the patterns) do show up in a composite chart.
I hope someone has an example of this.
This phenomena is fascinating to me as I’ve seen in all families. In my own family, all members have a very heavy Capricorn influence, with most members having a stellium in that sign. Well, except for me. Even in basic elemental breakdown the dynamics are interesting. My mom, brother and sister are all Sadges, my dad is a Scorpio and I am a Pisces. In other families, I see this too. Very interesting, this astrological genetics. Adoption would be an interesting thing to research into this. Do certain people gravitate towards certain children because of their charts in some subconscious way? Could it possibly have some past life implications (separated in a previous life, seeking each other out again?). Well, if you believe in that kooky stuff, anyway. Be interested in hearing other people’s familial breakdowns and how it plays out in their dynamics.
Elsa, everytime you talk about the Hall of Mirrors I’m reminded of that Bella Fleck tune of the same name on the Outbound album!
Ugh, apparently I need to tap into that Virgo Saturn editing thing. I think I can sandwich one more “interesting” into that paragraph. It’s early and the tequila did NOT go down easy last night!
My dad was adopted at an early age..he’s a pisces with a gemini moon and his adopted mum’s moon was in pisces whilst his dad was a gemini sun.
I have pisces asc (with neptune opp merc) and share venus in aries and jup in virgo with him aswell as moon/merc/jup aspect. With him and my mum we all 3 have saturn/sun, uranus/sun and mars/pluto aspects.
I also share moon/pluto with my mum and i also have moon/uranus which gravitates with her moon in aqua (my dad also has mars/merc here). She’s a cancer and having recently got into midpoints, i found i have a ton of them in cancer/aqua.
My half sister also has moon/uranus and cancer on mc and i share moon/jup and merc/nep aspects with her. Her father also has sun/saturn but she somehow managed to escape that one. Interestingly i have the same sun, moon, mercury and venus signs as him. Fascinating stuff!
Z, does your dad by any chance have pluto in the 4th? That is considered a “classic” adoption symbol and I have seen it in charts of persons who were adopted. Funny enough, as I did the charts and mentioned that, the querent would say “but I am adopted, didn’t you know?” (::twilight zone them song::) As far as family themes go, I have seen this lots of times, actually almost all the time. My own family a strong fixed and water theme. i.e. even if it’s not planets in scorpio directly, the other elements and triplicities sort of add up to the theme, kind of like Elsa mentioning there is more than one way to add to 10
I have seen Pluto in the 4th and/or Neptune in the 5th house for adoptive persons. I found that natal Pluto in the 4th can sometimes indicate cirucmstances which led to having to adopt out the child. Often the parent(s) can be moody and very overwhelming. This applies to even the adopting parents — something else is going on in the 4th-house Pluto family as well. It certainly forces the 4th-house Pluto person to develop their own sense of security since Pluto tends to bring themes of upheaval centred around the concepts of family, home life, and roots.
I can attest to familial patterns but have no data for adopted children. For example, all the women in my immediate family have Mercury in Scorpio . . . difficult to hide anything from us!! 🙂
Yep. We’ve got Neptune all over the place in my family, particularly squares. Dreamy, sensitive, a little reclusive, unrealistic, but not out-and-out psychotic. 🙂 At last count, 4 of the 5 siblings, and 1 from the next generation, were self-employed. Very nice to be one’s own boss, even if it means there’s no $ coming in.
How nice we all found each other. A hard-core Saturn person in the mix explaining how to get our acts together would have spoiled the mood. 🙂
oh, yes.
my family all have mercury/uranus of one sort or another (generally oppositions but sometimes conjunctions.)
and eighth house emphasis.
i’m sure there’s more, but i haven’t looked too close.
i will say (this is more a synastry) my parents have their suns and moons in opposite conjunction his sun/her moon, her sun/his moon.
and my grandma, a gemini, raised three sons, who all married geminis (thus my overabundance of gemini that jupiter in gemini gives me, apparently?)
i bet there’s more, i just hadn’t looked at it from so many directions.
i have a friend who was about seven when she was adopted. the adoption included a massive culture shock. she has strong signs of her birth family/culture in her chart (and character.) the adoptive family shows up more in saturn, chiron, and her nodes.
My parents and I all have Saturn in Scorpio.
Shaina – That means you were their Saturn return! 🙂
Grow up! You have a baby!
I’ve been comparing family charts and discovered numerous patterns:
Heavy Scorpio influence in angular houses.
Both my parents and I have Saturn in Scorpio. My mother and I have the same rising, her NN is conjunct my Sun, while my NN is conjunct her ASC.
Also Moon/Pluto contact: My father has a Moon cj Pluto in Leo, my brother has Moon sq Pluto and I have Moon cj Pluto in Libra. We’re constantly walking on eggshells around each other!
Speaking of editing… you mean she has neptune in capricorn?
june – yep and fixed. Thanks.
I’m fascinated by this. I was adopted when I was 6 months old, and so was my younger brother.
I am a 7th house Leo with my Mercury and Venus in Virgo (also in the 7th house). My older brother is a Libra with (most probably) a Leo rising and I’m willing to bet my dad (Gemini) has a Leo rising as well. My younger (adopted) brother is also a Gemini but while nobody knows his exact birth date, I am pretty darn sure he has a Virgo rising (nobody else is that particular!). My mother is a textbook Virgo, but I have no idea what her rising sign is. Possibly Libra.
So I would say yes — adopted families share the same similarities.
My best friend was adopted at birth and I looked at her chart after reading this. She doesn’t have anything in the fourth, but does have Neptune in the 5th.
In my own family I’ve realized that the mid to late Pisces degree plays a big role, my asc, my mom and brother’s moon, all around the same degree. some Sag points as well, and Gemini, rising/moon. Of course there are 8 people in my immediate family so there is a lot of similarity and a lot of difference but it’s fascinating to study. I have to compare everyone’s chart and make all the connections one day! And we’ll have 2 new additions soon as well.
I’m not new to this blog but I’m a first time poster. I’ve been looking into this subject for awhile and I have to say I’m SO glad that you posted about this. my family and I have karma all over the place! I mean my mother and I alone. We both have mars in gemini, venus in aspect to neptune, pluto and saturn, mercury in aspect to saturn and uranus, saturn in capricorn, I have jupiter in leo and she has jupiter in the fifth house, she has mercury in aries and I have mercury in the first house that rules my ascendant, we both have venus angular, tenth for her/first for me, her pluto is on my ascendant, both her venus and moon are is venus ruled signs and my moon and venus are sextile. HA, every person I’ve ever met has told me how similar we are. and I think it’s also quite interesting that both my brothers have venus conjunct jupiter in the third house. my brothers and I are also all air signs. my older brother and I also have the moon conjunct pluto in scorpio, his in the twelfth and mine in the third, while my little brother only has the sextile. my little brother and I also have moon/neptune, trine and sextile respectively. funny because this dynamic really does explain our relationship well. my brother used to be just horrible to me, once hiding my favorite toy in the dryer so I’d crawl in and get it, only to be shut in by him so he could turn it on. not to mention the sheer terror of either their tempers. But, on the other hand, no matter what they did to me and they did alot, there was no doubt that I’d be the one coming to their rescue (venus in virgo trine neptune, moon sextile neptune), tears and all. funny isn’t it? and I haven’t even gotten to how we’re all like my dad too! I really do believe there is a pattern. and I’m all about finding the higher interconnection in ordinary things.
Elsa,
You have no idea how much that realization made me giggle.
“I AM YOUR SATURN RETURN!”… Capricorn baby, here to deliver a nice dose of reality. *much snickering*
CJ, we’re not sure of my dad’s tob so dont know if he has pluto in 4th. The moon changed signs the day he was born from gemini into cancer and he’s def gemini but i dont know much about rectification. I’ve played about and think he may have a sag asc (he loves travelling and seems to pick geminian women as partners..gem being on desc if correct). He has recently been in touch with one of his half brothers and found out he has another 3. Quite sad..his real mother had my dad, a product of an affair during the war (she already had 2 boys) and when her husband returned he made her choose them or him. She put him up for adoption and her husband left her anyway. A few years later she met someone who promised to marry her, she got pregnant again, then HE left her. She couldnt afford another child so put him up too. Then a few years later the same thing! 3 children she put up in total. Cant understand it myself but guess times were different then and single mothers not so well catered for. The brother we’re meeting was one of the ones who remained and i think it must have been weird for them growing up. That gemini (siblings) moon (past) really in effect!
My mother and I both have Scorpio rising, Scorpio sun and Moon in Capricorn. We are very close, but have fought in years past, usually when one of us has done something that proves we’re not the same person! My father’s Sun was 3 degrees from my Moon and our Jupiters were conjunct within 2 degrees. He died when the transiting Sun exactly conjuncted my Jupiter.
I have the birth data for a friend of mine and his adopted son, but I don’t see similarities in their charts. Unfortunately, I don’t have data for the other child in the family or for the grandmother (the mother-figure to the kids since mom skipped out). I’m both neither a good enough astrologer nor patient enough to comb the info right now to look into it deeper. Maybe I’ll make it a “when I’m bored” project and post the results. 🙂
In other news:
Pepper, you have illuminated part of my 4th house for me! Now I just need to find out how the aspects to Pluto modify it. Thank you!
My paternal grandfather, and my maternal grandmother both had their birthdays on July 08, and my uncle, who is my grandfather’s son, has his birthday on July 7th. His daughter was also born on July 7th. My daughter was born July 6th, late in the evening (she was 10 days overdue!). I have my Ascendant on 14 degrees of Cancer, which is under a degree or about a degree away from all of their Suns!!!!!!!
My Mother died when I was two days old (I have a 12th house moon.) When I was six weeks old my neighbor, Marie, started babysitting my older sister and I. I remember spending more time with her than my Dad. After my Dad died we lived with her permantely.
My mother’s Venus in Taurus is conjunct my Moon/Asc. Her Sun is conjunct my 12th house Moon.
Marie’s Venus is also exactly conjunct my Moon.
My mother’s natal chart: Taurus Sun, Mecury and Venus. Venus/Sun conjunction. Sun/Venus opp. Neptune and Uranus.
My natal chart: Libra Sun, Mercury and Venus. All conjunct. All square Neptune and Uranus.
We both have strong Venuses and stressful aspects from outter planets.
I gave my son up for adoption when he was born (or actually like 2 days after) he’s a Gemini Leo Aries with Cancer Venus in the 4th, Gemini mercury and Gemini mars
My progressed chart the day he was born was Cancer Cancer Cancer (my natal is Gemini Pisces Taurus) I’m curious to find out more about adopted children and their astrology.
Welcome, Stephanie.
I was adopted, and lucky enough to find my birth families. Every one of us going back to grandparents on my biological maternal side has a Venus-Pluto aspect. There’s karma of passion, control and abandonment/loss/rebirth throughout the family. My great-grandmother left her abusive husband and children (highly unusual), her daughter (my grandmother) abandoned her husband and children for a new love, and my birth mother had children with 4 men and suceeded in raising (keeping) 6/8 of them. I work in the arts/metaphysics and have no blood children, just those of my own creation, and I also nurture others for a living so my clients are my children who make appointments with me freely. That’s about half of the discoveries. Thanks for the great site.
Welcome, Dee.
One my adopted children has Plu in 4th house.
I am Cap Sun, and the child mentioned above has Cap on 4th house cusp.
Other adopted child has Moon in Cap.
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I am wanting to read research on astrology of adopted children. I want to better understand if when referring to parents in a natal chart if it means the birth or the adoptive parents.
That would be interesting. Welcome!
Joining this conversation 12 years later. So interesting!
My great-grandmother was adopted in 1880. She lived to age 103, and we all grew up knowing about the adoption and speculating wildly about who her parents might have been. As if, knowing, it would change who we were. When I discovered her birth mother in 2016 with the help of DNA, the energetic shift was palpable.
ANYWAY, we still don’t know if it was a rape, or a seduction, or a torrid affair with a married man … nothing about the back story. There are some mysteries attached to it beyond the birth itself. And because there are no adoption papers, just a strong indication of her identity via DNA relationships with living people, there’s never been a feeling of 100% certainty till last night when I compared their charts.
The birth mother’s (Lucy) Pluto conjuncts my great-grandmother’s (Anna) Venus with an orb of two minutes, with Lucy’s retrograde Pluto just starting to pull away from Anna’s Venus. Meanwhile, Anna’s Pluto conjuncts her mother’s retrograde Uranus, which is moving toward Pluto with a less than one-and-a-half-degree orb.
I of course have no birth times for these people, all of whom were born over a century ago, but I read the comments about Pluto in the 4th house of adoptees and thought I’d experiment. I discovered that if I move the IC just 5 degrees back from its noontime/solar position, Pluto moves into the 4th house and Lucy’s sun moves into the 10th house … intriguingly making the house structure almost identical to my own with the 4th and 10th cusps at 5 degrees of Taurus and Scorpio, and 11 degrees Capricorn rising (I have 10 degrees natally).
That leaves Lucy’s retrograde Uranus (which conjuncts Anna’s Pluto) just a degree from the 5th-house [children] cusp, and it keeps Saturn in her 7th. Not sure about its meaning traditionally, but Lucy failed to hold the father of her first child (maybe she didn’t want to) and then her two husbands died after relatively short marriages. Lucy herself though lived into her 90s and did have a son who outlived her.
It’s fascinating the stories you can read and the stories you can tell with astrology! As to patterns, in my seven-member (parents and children) birth family, five of us have Capricorn rising.