Disclosure and identity experiences of adults abandoned as babies: A qualitative study

Abstract

There is intense debate regarding the disclosure experience of those children born from new technologies, surrogacy or adoption, yet no single study of those adopted after being abandoned as infants. This qualitative study examined disclosure for adult survivors of abandonment. Sixteen interviews were recorded and coded. A deductive approach to thematic analysis was used to create higher order themes and sub-themes. Findings are centred around the experience of disclosure, the process of disclosure specifically exploring the role of half-truths and finally the impact of disclosure on the search for identity and self. Disclosure was often delayed with traumatic effect. Adoption disclosure was separated from abandonment disclosure. Abandonment facts were often discovered at life event moments-weddings, death of an adoptive parent or the birth of a baby. Abandoned babies, as adults, often resorted to press/media to track their original circumstances, to seek out relatives and finders. Such searches were emotion filled, at high personal cost and often with dead-end consequences. Naming (e.g. after a railway station or shop name) was often linked to place or person surrounding the abandonment circumstances and this amplified the pain when discovered. Most ABOUT THE AUTHORSProfessor Lorraine Sherr is a professor of Clinical and Health Psychology at University College London. She has played a key role in research, policy and provision in the area of fragile families.Kathryn Roberts is a researcher based within the Institute for Global Health at Univeristy College London with an interest in the psychology of families, mental health and gloabl health.Natasha Croome is a doctoral student specialising in mental health.

Comparison of adoptees’ and nonadoptees’ experience of parenthood and mediating role of dyadic coping

“…Although adoptees share most of the issues of parenting with nonadoptees, some are specific to them. For example, a particularity of adoptees in relation to parenthood is the exacerbated importance of the biological link (Brodzinsky, Schechter, & Henig, 1993;Horowitz, 2011;Jordan & Dempsey, 2013;Moyer & Juang, 2011;Pinkerton, 2010;Sherr, Roberts, & Croome, 2018). Adoptees yearn to have same blood offspring or children who bear a physical resemblance to them.…”

“…Some traits that are also present in the general population are amplified among adoptees, including the fear of transmission, the fear of abandoning their own child (Hampton, 1997), and difficulty identifying with the parental model provided by adoptive parents (Brodzinsky, Schechter, & Henig, 1993;Horowitz, 2011;Moyer & Juang, 2011;Pierron, 2017). These more marked traits in adoptees would lead them to have less of a desire for children than nonadoptees (Horowitz, 2011), to conceive their first child at a later age (Collishaw, Maughan, & Pickles, 1998), or even to give up the idea of becoming a parent altogether (Sherr, Roberts, & Croome, 2018). However, most of these studies presented their results as a series of problems encountered by adoptees when they access parenthood.…”

“…The third theme emanating from existing studies is that of a change in relationships with parents (biological and adoptive) in the context of parenthood. Regarding relationships with biological parents, existing research highlights an emotional ambivalence (empathy, gratitude, or anger) that frequently leads to a search for origins when the adoptee becomes a parent (Pinkerton, 2010;Sherr, Roberts, & Croome, 2018). The ensuing reunion can then lead to the emergence of a second model of identification on which adoptees construct their parenthood (Gatzke, 2015).…”

Refusal versus massive investment: Qualitative study of parenthood among adopted adults in France

“…The second theme concerns the specific issues encountered by adoptees when they become parents, such as the importance of the biological link (Brodzinsky, Schechter, & Henig, 1993;Horowitz, 2011;Moyer & Juang, 2011;Pinkerton, 2010;Sherr, Roberts, & Croome, 2018), the fear of passing on problematic genetic traits, the fear of abandoning their child (Hampton, 1997), and problems identifying with their biological and adoptive parents (Brodzinsky, Schechter, & Henig, 1993;Horowitz, 2011;Moyer & Juang, 2011;Pierron, 2017). These aspects may explain why adoptees have a weaker desire for children than nonadoptees (Horowitz, 2011), are older on average when they have their first child (Collishaw, Maughan, & Pickles, 1998), and may abandon the idea of becoming a parent altogether (Sherr, Roberts, & Croome, 2018). The third theme is the change in adoptees' relationship with their adoptive (and possibly biological) parents in the context of parenthood.…”

Parenting concepts and experiences of adults abandoned as infants

“…Studies rarely focus on the abandoned infant and their experiences are conflated with all adopted children. This may be short-sighted as this group may have specific experiences and needs Sherr, Roberts & Croome, 2017;Sherr, Roberts & Croome, 2018). The evidence on the effects of adoption on child development and adjustment is mixed, although adoption is seen as being the best process to ensure healthy development in children separated from their birth parents (Johnson, 2002).…”