Accepting the Reality of Adoption: Birth Relatives' Experiences of Face-to-Face Contact

Neil, Elsbeth

doi:10.1177/030857590302700206

Cited by 14 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Studies also report on the positive impact of contact for birth mothers (Fravel et al. 2000; Neil 2003b, 2006; Triseliotis et al. 2005; Henney et al.…”

Section: The Research Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

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Preparation and planning for face‐to‐face contact after adoption: the experience of adoptive parents in a UK study

Logan

2010

Child & Family Social Work

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Whilst there is a general international trend towards more open adoption, there is considerable variation between agencies in the extent to which they are prepared to support different forms of contact arrangements. Agencies have a pivotal role to play in decisions about contact and early planning that is integrated into the assessment and preparation of prospective adopters is fundamental to its success. This paper reports on adoptive parents' experiences of the process of preparation and planning for direct, face‐to‐face contact. During preparation, agencies were clearly getting the message across to prospective adopters about the importance of contact for the child's well being. However, insufficient attention was directed at helping adopters to anticipate their feelings towards birth relatives and their responses to the kinds of management issues that might arise after adoption. There was considerable variation in the extent to which adopters were involved in the process of planning detailed contact arrangements, and this seemed to bear relevance on the success or otherwise of subsequent contact arrangements.

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“…Studies also report on the positive impact of contact for birth mothers (Fravel et al. 2000; Neil 2003b, 2006; Triseliotis et al. 2005; Henney et al.…”

Section: The Research Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies also report on the positive impact of contact for birth mothers (Fravel et al 2000;Neil 2003bNeil , 2006Triseliotis et al 2005;Henney et al 2007) though Henney et al (2007) cautions that a 'rush towards openness' may not be beneficial for all birth mothers.…”

Section: T H E R E S E a R C H E V I D E N C Ementioning

confidence: 99%

Preparation and planning for face‐to‐face contact after adoption: the experience of adoptive parents in a UK study

Logan

2010

Child & Family Social Work

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“…Longitudinal studies in adoption research would provide a more powerful lens through which to examine the effects of adoption on those involved over time. Neil and colleagues have begun this process by elucidating the evolution of adoption related issues over more than a decade (Neil, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2012; Neil and Howe, 2004). A second limitation is the non-random nature of the samples.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The birth fathers of adopted children: differences and continuities over a 30-year period

Clapton

Clifton

2016

Adoption & Fostering

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The history of adoption in the UK can be divided into two approximate eras: prior to 1980, ‘relinquished’ babies were placed with childless couples; post-1980, adoption was increasingly seen as an alternative permanence option for children in care. This article explores the changes and continuities in the experiences of one group of people in the adoption process over these two periods: birth fathers. In the light of the dearth of research on this group, the authors compare their own studies of birth fathers from each era to identify constants and changes in birth father experiences and what can be learned for future adoption practice. The findings show that contemporary birth fathers are likely to be older, more vulnerable and more likely to have parented their child. It is suggested that while there is greater acknowledgement of the significance of fathers and today’s birth fathers have more legal rights than their predecessors (though not complete parity with mothers) and have more complex lives, services have yet to devise more inclusive practices.

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“…Although the adopted child is physically and legally absent from the birth family after adoption, for many birth family members the child remains a strong psychological presence -in other words they are held close in the heart and mind of the birth relative (Fravel, 2000). At Time 1 and 2 of the study, we found that birth relatives varied in the extent to which they felt and were able to show a positive acceptance of the child's adoption (Neil, 2003b(Neil, , 2007b. When birth relatives had unresolved feelings of anger, depression or resignation about the child's adoption and/or lack of realism in their understanding of their role, these affected both the capacity of the birth relatives to maintain contact over time, and the impact of contact on the adoptive family.…”

Section: Chapter Summarymentioning

confidence: 99%

Descriptive Analysis of Foster Care Adoptions in New South Wales, Australia

Bolger

Dunstan

Kaltner³

2017

Australian Social Work

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We would like to acknowledge the help of the many people who made this study possible, some of whom cannot be named individually for reasons of confidentiality. The research was funded by The Nuffield Foundation and was carried out in 2012 and 2013. Firstly we would like to thank all the adopted young people, adoptive parents and birth relatives who took part in the study. Their willingness to share their personal experiences and to take time to fill in questionnaires was vital to the success of the project. We would also like to thank the social workers and administrative staff from the participating adoption agencies who assisted us in tracing participants whose contact details were out of date. We are grateful to the help of After Adoption who assisted us in recruiting a group of adopted young people to advise us on the early stages of the study, and of course to the young people themselves who made many valuable suggestions which informed our data collection strategy.

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Accepting the Reality of Adoption: Birth Relatives' Experiences of Face-to-Face Contact

Cited by 14 publications

References 16 publications

Preparation and planning for face‐to‐face contact after adoption: the experience of adoptive parents in a UK study

Preparation and planning for face‐to‐face contact after adoption: the experience of adoptive parents in a UK study

The birth fathers of adopted children: differences and continuities over a 30-year period

Descriptive Analysis of Foster Care Adoptions in New South Wales, Australia

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