Partnering and parenting expectations in adoptive couples

Abstract

This paper describes research investigating couples who undertook the procedure of becoming adoptive parents, studying the partners' representations of relationships in the context of their psychological sense of loss owing to infertility. The sample consisted of 100 subjects (50 couples) who took part in an assessment process related to adoption within the Social Services structures. The subjects had the following features in common: they were between 35 and 45 years of age; the duration of their marriages was between 7 and 10 years; none had biological or previously adopted children. The instruments used were a Psycho-Social Questionnaire, the Adult Attachment Interview (Main & Goldwin, 1998) and the Family Life Space (Gozzoli & Tamanza, 1998). The results showed a majority of couples classified by the AAI as 'Secure', and a lack of couples formed by partners both classified as 'Insecure'. Moreover, we found a prevalence of couples who are classified by the FLS instrument as failing in 'space government' (Fragmentation and Overfilling = 68%). These results suggest that adoptive couples show a strong appreciation of affect and attachment needs, but are still deeply in crisis in the personal and family relationship sectors of their lives. © British Association for Sexual and Relationship Therapy

Perceptions of parental bonding, adult attachment, and marital adjustment in prospective adoptive parents. An empirical study in the pre-adoptive period

“…The great majority of pre-adoptive couples had a secure attachment style (84%) and showed high relational adjustment (87%); this finding suggests that most future adoptive parents may be well equipped to face with the challenges and the opportunities of the adoption experience (Cavanna et al, 2008). In synthesis, the few extant studies on the pre-adoptive phase portray prospective adoptive parents as resourceful and more secure in their attachment when compared to couples where a child is born to them (Cavanna et al, 2008(Cavanna et al, , 2011Levy-Shiff et al, 1990Santona & Zavattini, 2005;Schechter, 1970). However, other researchers have highlighted, from empirical and theoretical viewpoints, difficulties and relational vulnerabilities of parents in the pre-adoptive phase (Brodzinsky & Huffman, 1988;Caballo et al, 2001;Fontenot, 2007;Levy-Shiff et al, 1991;Priel, Melamed-Hass, Besser, & Kantor, 2000;Santona & Zavattini, 2005).…”

“…In synthesis, the few extant studies on the pre-adoptive phase portray prospective adoptive parents as resourceful and more secure in their attachment when compared to couples where a child is born to them (Cavanna et al, 2008(Cavanna et al, , 2011Levy-Shiff et al, 1990Santona & Zavattini, 2005;Schechter, 1970). However, other researchers have highlighted, from empirical and theoretical viewpoints, difficulties and relational vulnerabilities of parents in the pre-adoptive phase (Brodzinsky & Huffman, 1988;Caballo et al, 2001;Fontenot, 2007;Levy-Shiff et al, 1991;Priel, Melamed-Hass, Besser, & Kantor, 2000;Santona & Zavattini, 2005). Moreover, it is a common clinical experience for adoptive parents to face challenges related to anger, anxiety, low self-esteem, and the envy of fertile couples conjunctly with the mourning of their own chance to bear children.…”

“…This transition phase, according to Schechter (1970), would be characterized by positive feelings and optimism of the adoptive parents, which could also be defined as "honeymoon" (Bray & Kelly, 1998;Schechter, 1970). In terms of attachment, Santona, Zavattini, and colleagues (Santona & Zavattini, 2005;Santona et al, 2006;Zavattini et al, 2003) showed that in the pre-adoptive period, prospective adoptive parents have a prevalence of secure attachment patterns. In line with this, Cavanna, Rosso, and Pace (2008) investigated the influence of adult attachment style on dyadic adjustment and found that couples 2 V. Calvo et al that had fulfilled the criteria for adoption were primarily characterized as secure, satisfied, and cohesive in their relationship.…”

Post-Adoption Support Groups: Strategies for Addressing Marital Issues

“…In light of these findings, empirical studies have also shown that adoptive couples Downloaded by [University of Western Ontario] at 01:40 09 February 2015 may face certain marital stressors that are uniquely related to these tasks of the adoption life cycle. Many couples who adopt also have struggled with infertility, which may affect their relationship in a number of ways (Santona & Zavattini, 2005). If one partner is infertile and the other is not, the one who is infertile may feel guilty, while the other spouse may feel anger over the situation of childlessness and ask, "What if I had married someone else (or did in the future)?"…”

“…A study of social workers providing adoption preservation services found that couples often had unequal commitments to the adoption, resulting in tension when difficulties with a child arose (Smith, 2006). Adoptive couples must manage information about their children as well as sometimes help them to deal with the trauma of previous experiences (Santona & Zavattini, 2005).…”