Negotiating Reunion in Intercountry Adoption Using Social Media and Technology

Abstract

This article focuses on how intercountry adoptees use social media and technology to negotiate and facilitate reunion with their birth families. The qualitative data were drawn from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with eleven adoptees who were internationally adopted to Ireland and have contact with their birth families using social media and technology. The findings from this interpretivist study demonstrate that social media and technology have significantly transformed and can now play a central role in reunion in intercountry adoption. They also suggest that social workers need to be aware of the emerging role of social media and technology in intercountry adoption reunion to develop further knowledge and skills in this area. Specifically, the study indicates that social media and technology have facilitated, ‘normalised’ and casualised aspects of contact with birth family; increased the pace of contact and can pose challenges in navigating contact and boundaries. A key finding of this study relates to the importance of contact with birth siblings and their potential role as mediators and facilitators of contact with birth parents. Participants report that whilst social media and technology have facilitated their contact with birth family, it cannot and does not replace the need for ‘real life’ in-person contact.

I am home. The circle is complete: The reunification of fostered/adopted relatives

“…The third major finding is related to the unique role that American Indian family members, relatives, and tribe play in calling home their fostered/adopted relatives. Although previous research suggests that birth siblings can facilitate contact between the adopted relative and the family of origin (Shier, 2021), our findings expand upon such findings to include other family members as well. Participants in this study were sought and found by their birthparents, siblings, and extended family members.…”

“…Historically, the practice of adoption was guarded by privacy and anonymity, but such protections cannot be guaranteed given technological advances in social media and ancestry DNA testing. Research suggests that searching can be facilitated through the internet, social media, and DNA databases (Baden et al, 2021; Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2018; Fischer, 2002; Haralambie, 2013; Shier, 2021). Registries have been established to assist adopted individuals and their families of origin in reconnecting and some even hire private investigators to assist in the search (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2018; Fischer, 2002; Haralambie, 2013).…”

“…Registries have been established to assist adopted individuals and their families of origin in reconnecting and some even hire private investigators to assist in the search (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2018; Fischer, 2002; Haralambie, 2013). Birth siblings can also facilitate contact between the adopted individual and the family of origin (Shier, 2021).…”

“…Adoption can initiate a sense of curiosity about one's identity and no one “should be denied the right to claim and proclaim their own genetic heritage” (Haralambie, 2013, p. 228). Thus, in recent years, post‐adoption reunion is often normalized (Baden et al, 2021; Shier, 2021).…”

Mapping the digitalisation of child adoption in India: Challenges and future possibilities

“…Such openness in adoption communication facilitates contact with the birth families; however, there may be risks involved when contact, especially virtual, occurs without any adoption agency or social worker mediation. Virtual contact is not seen as a replacement for ‘real’, face-to-face contact but as a positive way of supplementing existing relationships, and it is valued more if adoptive parents support it (Shier, 2021). Within India’s closed adoption system, this type of virtual contact is not possible.…”