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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Adoption, adoption seeking, and relinquishment for adoption in the United States.

OBJECTIVES: This report presents national data on adoption and adoption-related behaviors among ever-married women 18-44 years of age in the United States, according to selected characteristics of the women. Trends are shown in the prevalence of adoption and relinquishment of children for adoption. For 1995, the report shows demand for adoption and women's preferences for characteristics of the child. METHODS: Data are based on nationally representative samples of women 15-44 years of age from the 1973, 1982, 1988, and 1995 National Surveys of Family Growth (NSFG). RESULTS: The percent of ever-married women 18-44 years of age who have ever adopted a child declined from 2.1 percent in 1973 to 1.3 percent in 1995. Of the 9.9 million women who had ever considered adoption, 16 percent had taken steps toward adoption, and 31 percent of these had actually adopted a child. Older women, nulliparous women, women with fecundity impairment, and women who have used infertility services were more likely to have considered adoption, to have taken concrete steps toward adoption, and to have actually adopted a child. In response to the questions about preferred characteristics of an adopted child, women expressed strong preferences with respect to age, sex, race, and disability level of the child, but were willing to accept children with the less-desired traits. Between 1989 and 1995, about 1 percent of babies born to never-married women were relinquished for adoption, down from 9 percent among such babies born before 1979. CONCLUSIONS: Federally supported adoption data collection sources corroborate the decline in adoption shown by the NSFG over the past 25 years. Demand for adoption in the United States varies, depending on whether demand is conceptualized liberally as "ever having considered adoption" or more narrowly, as "currently taking concrete steps toward adoption." The narrow definition was fulfilled by 232,000 ever-married women in 1995.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Age at placement, adoption experience and adult adopted people's contact with their adoptive and birth mothers: an attachment perspective.

Adoption holds particular interest for attachment researchers. Although children adopted as babies experience almost continuous care by their adoptive parents, older placed children experience at least one major change of caregiver when they join their adoptive family. Moreover, in the majority of cases, older placed children have generally suffered a pre-adoption history of abuse, neglect and/or rejection. It is now being recognized that older placed children's attachment histories and internal working models (IWMs) established in relationship with their initial carers remain active in relationship with their new carers. Transactional models have helped both researchers and practitioners to understand the dynamics of parent-child relationships in cases where insecure children with histories of neglect, abuse and rejection find themselves in new caregiving environments. The present study examines the childhood experiences of adult adopted people and their current levels of contact with their adoptive mothers, and in cases where people had searched for and found a birth relative, current levels of contact with their birth mother. Although no information was collected on the adopted adult's pre-placement history, age at placement was used as a proxy measure to examine whether older placed children reported different adoption experiences and what their current levels of contact were with their adoptive and birth mothers. The findings show that age at placement was associated with adopted people's reported experiences of being adopted and current rates of contact with their adoptive and birth mothers, with those placed at older ages most likely to report that they (1) did not feel they belonged in their adoptive families while growing up, (2) did not feel loved by their adoptive mother, (3) were least likely to remain in high-frequency contact with their adoptive mother, and (4) were least likely to remain in high-frequency contact with their birth mother. An attachment perspective is used to interpret the findings. Children adopted at older ages appear more likely to have experienced an insecure attachment relationship with their adoptive mother.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

The Texas Adoption Project: adopted children and their intellectual resemblance to biological and adoptive parents.

Intelligence test scores were obtained from parents and children in 300 adoptive families and compared with similar measures available for the biological mothers of the same adopted children. Results supported the hypothesis that genetic variability is an important influence in the development of individual differences for intelligence. The most salient finding was that adopted children resemble their biological mothers more than they resemble the adoptive parents who reared them from birth. A small subset of the oldest adopted children did not resemble their biological mothers. The suggestion that the influence of genes declines with age is treated with caution since other adoption studies report a trend in the opposite direction.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Intellectual resemblance among adoptive adoptive and biological relatives: the Texas adoption project.

Intellectual and personality measures were available from unwed mothers who gave their children up for adoption at birth. The same or similar measures have been obtained from 300 sets of adoptive parents and all of their adopted and natural children in the Texas Adoption Project. The sample characteristics are discussed in detail, and the basic findings for IQ are presented. Initial analyses of the data on IQ suggest moderate heritabilities. Emphasis is placed on the preliminary nature of these findings.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Differences between foster care and adoption: perceptions of adopted foster children and adoptive foster parents.

Foster parents who were once discouraged from adopting children placed in their care are now encouraged to do so. This has changed practice in both foster care and adoption, and has blurred the distinctions between the two services. The author discusses how foster care and adoption are viewed by adoptive parents and children, and draws implications for permanency planning from their perceptions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Open adoption and adoptive mothers: attitudes toward birthmothers, adopted children, and parenting.

The nature and extent of contact between 238 adoptive mothers and their child's biological mother was assessed for the period prior to the birth of the child and during the first two years of the child's life. Adoptive mothers who reported such contact prior to the child's birth had significantly more favorable attitudes toward both the biological mother and the adopted child. Those with contact either before or after the birth also demonstrated significantly more favorable parenting attitudes. Policy implications and the need for further research are noted.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

An adoption study comparing the prevalence of psychiatric illness in women who have adoptive and natural children compared with women who have adoptive children only.

The current study compares the current and lifetime prevalence of affective disorder in women who have adopted and have natural children (n = 110) with women who only have adopted children (n = 176). There was no difference in lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorder between the two groups and a nonsignificant trend for women who had born children to have had a major depressive episode during their lifetime 48 (44%) cf 62 (35%). The increased prevalence of psychiatric illness in married women with children cannot be explained by the biological fact of bearing children. None of the social variables related to child-rearing which were examined influenced the lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorder.

Adoption↗
PubMed1979

Familial aggregation of blood pressure and weight in adoptive families. I. Comparisons of blood pressure and weight statistics among families with adopted, natural, or both natural and adopted children.

Tests of homogeneity of means, variances and correlations for systolic blood pressure (BP), diastolic BP and weight among subdivisions of a smple of adoptive families are presented. The means and variances of either type of BP, but not weight, were not significantly heterogeneous among families grouped according to the number of parents and children, natural and/or adopted, in the family unit. Estimates of correlation between family members wree not heterogeneous among subdivisions for each of the three variables. Our results indicate that these data are suitable for a genetic analysis of familial aggregation. Pooled correlations suggest that the degree of resemblance of BP and of weight between family members varies within and across generations. Correlations involving the adoptees were significantly different from zero only for diastolic BP.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

The impact of previous type of abuse and sibling adoption upon adoptive families.

OBJECTIVE: The paper addresses the impacts of the type of abuse and sibling adoption upon family functioning. The specific objectives are to test the relationships: (1). between an adopted child's previous type of abuse and postadoptive family functioning; (2). between an adopted child's previous type of abuse and the child's postadoptive externalized behavior status; (3). between sibling adoption status and postadoptive family functioning; and (4). between sibling adoption status and the child's postadoptive externalized behavior status. METHOD: Data were collected from parents with adopted children, between the ages of 2 and 16, who have special needs status. The convenience sample was drawn primarily from one southern state. RESULTS: The results suggest that the child's type of abuse does predict different outcomes in terms of a parent's report of postadoptive family functioning but not the adopted child's postadoptive externalized behavior. Sibling adoptions resulted in lower perceptions of family functioning but slightly improved perceptions of the child's postadoptive externalized behavior. CONCLUSION: Parents with adopted children who have histories of physical and sexual abuse reported lower family functioning than those parents with adopted children who only have histories of neglect. Parents who adopted sibling groups reported fewer externalized child behavior problems but lower family functioning than those parents who adopted a single child. These results suggest the need for a variety of family supports targeted to family needs as well as to promoting behavioral changes in the children.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1994

Adoptive family system dynamics: variations by level of openness in the adoption.

This study examines the consequences of variations in levels of openness in adoption, especially focusing on the dynamics of the adoptive family system from the perspective of the adoptive parents. Participants included the father, mother, and at least one adopted child in 190 adoptive families, and 169 birthmothers, drawn from adoption agencies across the United States. Families included 62 confidential, 17 time-limited mediated, 52 ongoing mediated, and 59 fully disclosed adoptions. When compared to parents in confidential adoptions, those in open adoptions generally demonstrated higher levels of acknowledgment of the adoption, empathy toward the birthparents and their child, a stronger sense of permanence in the relationship with their child as projected into the future, and less fear that the birthmother might try to reclaim her child. Despite these mean differences, variations within all levels of openness were present, and results are discussed in terms of the ongoing process involved in building a family through adoption.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1998

Adopting adoption.

The common occurrence of adoption among birds and mammals presents evolutionary biologists with an explanatory challenge. The benefits to adoptees are self-evident, but the benefits to the adopter(s), the origin of the set of behaviours that constitute 'adoptive' behaviour, and the conditions for its spread in populations are not always clear. Explanations in terms of direct and indirect benefits to adopters and adoptees, and in terms of conflict between them have been suggested to account for the current functions and the evolutionary origin of 'adoptive' behaviour. In this paper we emphasize one aspect of the parenting behaviour associated with adoption that has been neglected: we suggest that adoption in birds and mammals is a route for the transfer of learnt information through social learning of patterns of behaviour, including styles of parenting. By using simple models we show that learning parenting from non-parents may provide additional opportunities for the spread of the 'adoptive' behaviour itself, even when it has no selective advantage. We also offer an additional explanation for the adaptive significance of adoption for both adopters and adoptees. Our 'match-making' hypothesis suggests that in some cases, by adopting foreign young, parents provide their genetic young with future ecologically compatible, but genetically unrelated, mates. Copyright 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Copyright 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1997

Parent-child relationships as a protective factor in preventing adolescents' psychosocial risk in inter-racial adoptive and non-adoptive families.

This study aims to compare family relations in inter-racial adoptive and non-adoptive families with a late adolescent and to examine the extent to which family relations constitute a protective factor in preventing adolescents' psychosocial risk. The sample consisted of 103 inter-racial adoptive families and 150 non-adoptive families with a child aged between 16 and 19 years. Subjects were requested to complete a self-report questionnaire. The results suggest the existence of a different relational configuration in inter-racial adoptive and non-adoptive families. They also show that the father-child relationship and the mother-child relationship play different roles in preventing the adolescent's maladjustment in inter-racial adoptive and non-adoptive families.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Open adoption of infants: adoptive parents' feelings seven years later.

Adoptions today increasingly include contact between adoptive and birth families. What do these "open adoptions" look like? How do the participants feel about them? This article, based on part of a longitudinal study that first examined adoptive parents' perceptions of their infants' open adoptions seven years ago, explores the parents' reactions now that their children are school age. This qualitative descriptive research revealed changes in the openness in the adoptions over time and identified four dimensions along which open adoptions vary. Findings showed parents' enthusiasm for the openness in their adoptions, regardless of the type and extent of openness. Implications for social work practice, education, and policy are explored.

Adoption↗
PubMed1990

ASHG activities relative to education. Heredity and adoption: a survey of state adoption agencies.

A subcommittee of The Social Issues Committee of The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG), aware of the growing interest in the implications of inheritance and adoption, in 1987 began surveying the 50 states' and Washington DC's public adoption agencies regarding this issue, and it completed the survey in 1988. In 1987, two surveys obtained data on each state's legal requirements for obtaining genetic information and on what each public adoption agency collected as genetic history. These results were presented in a poster at the 1987 ASHG annual meeting in San Diego. In 1988, a questionnaire was sent to the same agencies to elicit opinions as to whether adoption agencies should systematically collect genetic information to share with the adoptive family and adoptee, whether legislation should be mandated to collect such information, and whether genetic education programs should be developed and implemented for adoption-agency staff. On the basis of responses to the 1988 questionnaire, it was concluded that there is an interest in developing a uniform set of genetic information which should be part of a child's adoption record and that there is a need for genetic education programs for adoption workers. Responses to the desirability of mandating legislation for this purpose were less consistent.

Adoption↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The role of birth/previously adopted children in families choosing to adopt children with special needs.

Engaging birth/previously adopted children during the adoption process is crucial to laying the ground-work for successful placements. When families choose to adopt children with special needs, however, the role their other children will play in the adoption's success is often overlooked. This article presents a practical model that recognizes the dynamics of strength and vulnerability in adoptive families, then applies this model in preparing and supporting the family through the changes that are inevitable in special needs adoption. The model can also be used to assist adoptive parents in identifying and developing the skills they need to manage these shifts within the family.

Adoption↗
PubMed1975

Adopted children in their adoptive families.

The adoptive process can produce unusual stresses on the child, and biologic and adoptive parents, from prenatal to postnatal life, and through the various phases of physical and pscyhological development. Because of the possibility of these children and their families falling into the "at risk" category with greater potential for psychological and social problems, the pediatrician is of primary importance in diagnosis and counseling. The pediatrician can be of major help in properly diagnosing emotional, behavioral and/or learning problems occurring in adopted children. There must be a thorough evaluation of the child and his family to understand and properly treat symptomatic behavior. The pediatrician can give advice regarding developmental milestones, and especially help the adoptive parents in appreciating their conscious and unconscious attitudes so as to enhance attachment behaviors. Pediatricians are the consultants to whom parents turn for advice regarding the timing of telling about adoption. This advice needs to be individualized according to the specific child's needs. Using a developmental conceptual framework, the pediatrician is in the best position to help the parents and their adopted children with their feelings about societal attitudes and how these can most appropriately be handled. Along this line, the pediatrician can give help and advice when and if the adoptee decides to search for his biologic parents. There is a need to clarify laws which seal the original birth certificate permitting those adoptees who wish to attain a knowledge of potentially related disease processes and an identity with his own genealogical past to do so. This would also allow the adoptee to offer his own children information about their own genetic pool and an awareness of adoption as one of the most valuable and historically significant child rearing practices.

Adoption↗