Factors Associated with Adoption and Adoption Intentions of Nonparental Caregivers

ABSTRACT

Data from the 2011–2012 National Survey of Children's Health and the 2013 National Survey of Children in Nonparental Care were used to fit a multinomial logistic model comparing three groups to those who never considered adoption: those who ever considered but are not currently planning adoption, those planning adoption, and those who adopted. Adoption may be more likely when the caregiver is a non-kin foster parent, a foster care agency was involved, and/or financial assistance is available. Those with plans to adopt but who have not adopted may face adoption barriers such as extreme poverty, lower education, and being unmarried.     

Developmental,Familial, and Peer Deterrents to Adoption Placement

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the developmental, familial and peer deterrents that form barriers to adoption placement among teen mothers in a residential facility. An Eriksonian developmental model is used to explore developmental issues of identity, projective identification, and industry among teens. The findings suggest that family “cutoffs” and “re-admissions” also serve as deterrents to adoption placement. Additionally, peer pressure from residents of the facility form barriers to adoption placement. Teen mothers express how they were deterred from adoption placement and constrained into child-rearing as pregnancy resolution strategies. This qualitative study gives family therapy interventions as suggestions to facilitate adoption placement through addressing the constraints teen mothers face.     

Choices,Challenges, and Tensions

ABSTRACT

No research has examined the challenges faced by lesbian women seeking to adopt from the perspective of lesbian couples themselves. The current qualitative study utilized data from 70 women (from 35 same-sex couples) who were in the process of adopting to explore how lesbian women experience and navigate the challenges they encounter during this critical life transition. Ecological, minority stress, and feminist perspectives informed our analysis. Results indicated that many women experienced tensions between their desire to be “out” in the adoption process and the legal and social realities of adoption. Based on their reports, women in this sample faced numerous barriers to adopting but engaged in multiple forms of resistance to legal and social inequities. Women also identified supportive practices by agencies that facilitated the adoption process. Findings suggest the importance of considering lesbian women's experiences as a starting point in understanding how heteronormative social practices shape the experiences of same-sex couples striving to adopt.     

An Effective Adoption Education Program That Can Be Replicated

ABSTRACT

The article details the creation, development and organization of a public adoption education agency. Founded in 1986, Adoption Option, Inc. has become a catalyst for a broad array of adoption education activities in Southwestern Ohio. These activities center around a three-step education initiative which targets three groups: (1) people who have direct contact, and a counseling role, with pregnant women/teenagers and their partners and families; (2) adolescents who are being schooled in family life, sexuality and health programs; and (3) the general public. The three program areas for carrying our the agency's mission are: (1) a training program for individuals who counsel and assist women and teens with unplanned pregnancies which provides factual information about adoption and how to present it in a non-directive way; (2) educational programs to put adoption into school-based health curricula aimed at students ages 12-18; (3) a media initiative to convey accurate information about adoption. The agency and its successful programs can be replicated by individuals who are interested in making their communities more adoption-literate and adoption friendly.     

Transition from the Lactational Amenorrhea Method to other modern family planning methods in rural Bangladesh: Barrier analysis and implications for behavior change communication program intervention design

The timely transition from Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM)² to another modern family planning method contributes to healthy spacing of pregnancies by increasing the adoption of family planning during the first year postpartum. Yet, literature suggests challenges in completing a timely LAM transition. To guide program implementation in Bangladesh, this study identified factors influencing women's transition decisions.Eighty postpartum women, comprising 40 who transitioned from LAM³ and 40 who did not,⁴ participated. Half of each group participated in in-depth interviews to explore the decision-making process. All participants responded to a “Barrier Analysis” questionnaire to identify differences in eight behavioral determinants.More than half of transitioners switched to another modern method before or within the same month that LAM ended. Of the 18 transitioners who delayed,⁵ 15 waited for menses to return. For non-transitioners, key barriers included waiting for menses to return, misconceptions on return to fertility, and perceived lack of familial support. The LAM transition can help women prevent unintended pregnancy during the first year postpartum. Increased emphasis on counseling women about the risk of pregnancy, and misconceptions about personal fertility patterns are critical for facilitating the transition. Strategies should also include interventions that train health workers and improve social support.     

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

This paper describes the population of children in care in New South Wales, Australia, who were adopted by their foster families (N?=?372) from 2003 to 2014. Data pertaining to 370 of these adoptees were available and obtained from administrative records accompanying adoption applications. Most of these children had been placed with their subsequent adoptive family during infancy. However, adoption orders occurred much later in their lives. According to the available information at the time of adoption, these children did not suffer the high levels of mental health problems typically identified in populations of children in foster care. Though the data do not include follow-up to determine if the contact agreed upon at the time of adoption orders translated into practice, the most frequently postadoption arrangement recorded was face-to-face contact, four times a year with mother and siblings. The high levels of openness and face-to-face contact in Australian adoptions from care are a significant point of difference with other adoption models, and presents a need for research in the area.

IMPLICATIONS

• Following the change of legislation in New South Wales, Australia, that prioritises open adoption over foster care, social workers in the field of child protection are well placed to assist in this process.

• Social workers can assess children entering care to identify those who will benefit from adoption in a timely manner; undertake casework and administrative aspects of the adoption process; work closely with the child, and birth and adoptive families by delivering pre- and post-adoption supports; and conduct longitudinal research on the outcomes for children adopted from care.

     

Birthmothers and Subsequent Children: The Role of Personality Traits and Attachment History

Fifty-five women who had surrendered their first child for adoption and went on to have subsequent children, and 32 women who had surrendered their first child for adoption and did not have more children were given the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and the Attachment History Questionnaire. Women who had more children scored significantly higher on the Extroversion scale of the NEO-PI-R. Women who did not have more children were more apt to never marry and, when there was marriage, more apt to divorce. Women who had more children reported more pressure from family to relinquish their child. Attachment History Questionnaire results showed women who did not have more children reported Friends as significant support figures more often than women who did have more children.     

A Comparative Analysis of Adoptive Family Functioning with Gay,Lesbian, and Heterosexual Parents and Their Children

Abstract

The objectives of this comparative study were to examine adoptive family functioning with a sample of gay, lesbian, and heterosexual adoptive parents and their children. The results suggested that parent sexual orientation is not a significant predictor of adoptive family functioning, adopted child's behavior, and parent's perceptions of helpfulness from family support networks. Furthermore, a regression analysis suggested the following variables were associated with higher levels of family functioning: adoptive parents who were previously foster parents and children who had more previous placements prior to adoption. Lower family functioning was associated with children adopted through CPS; with children who had mental health diagnoses, learning disorders, or other handicapping conditions; and with children who were in a higher grade in school. The results of this comparative study of adoptive families support the need for more methodologically rigorous research that includes gay and lesbian adoptive parents along with heterosexual parents.     

Breastfeeding and employment: A propensity score matching approach

ABSTRACT

It is well established within the scholarship on work and the family that many women experience difficulty juggling work and family responsibilities. Challenges to breastfeeding after giving birth are a specific manifestation of this work–family conflict. Many women report that they are unable to continue breastfeeding upon return to paid work. In this article, I analyze a subsample of 746 women from the United States Infant Feeding Practices Survey II to assess the effect of new mothers’ employment status and workplace characteristics on breastfeeding duration. This research reveals that new mothers who return to paid employment within three months of giving birth breastfeed an average of five fewer weeks than new mothers who do not return to paid work for three months or more. In addition, among mothers who return to paid work within three months, full-time workers breastfeed an average of more than 15 fewer weeks than part-time workers. These substantial differences in the duration of breastfeeding suggest that women face significant obstacles to combining paid work and mothering in the postpartum period.     

Conceptions of Family and Adoption Among Older Adoptees

ABSTRACT

Research on older child adoptions that incorporates the adoptee's perspective is noticeably absent from the literature. Drawing on the theoretical, clinical and empirical literature on children's understanding of family and adoption, this paper reports a study that examined older adoptees' conceptions of family and adoption relative to nonadopted peers. Interviews with 15 children adopted between ages 8 and 11 and a sample of 15 demographically matched nonadopted children (47% male; 84% Caucasian, 13% African American, 3% Biracial Asian/American) provided data that were analyzed for differences in children's understanding and elaboration of family and adoption concepts. Although no group differences were found in children's basic understanding of family or adoption, differences emerged in children's ratings of the acceptability and typicality of family constellations, as well as in the nature of concept elaboration. Older adoptees were more likely to accept and view as typical nontraditional family constellations. Whereas nonadopted children relied more on biological themes, older adoptees' concept elaboration was qualitatively richer, reflecting their varied birth family and foster care experiences. Within-group comparisons among older adoptees revealed differences: Children with more experience in foster care and children who lived in the adoptive home longer displayed higher levels of family understanding and a more realistic perspective of the permanence of the placement. Implications for future research and adoption service delivery are discussed.     

The Lifestyling Program

Abstract

Objective: To assess knowledge of human papillomavirus (HPV) and perceived barriers to being vaccinated against the virus. Participants: Three hundred ninety-six undergraduate women enrolled at Penn State University in Fall 2008. Methods: A random sample of students were invited to participate in a Web-based survey. Results: Awareness of HPV and the vaccine was high, but knowledge of HPV-related facts averaged only 65% overall. Knowledge was significantly predicted by frequency of media exposure and physician encouragement to be vaccinated, but not by the number of sex partners nor the frequency of condom/dental dam use. On average, women indicated that 2 of the 10 barriers listed applied to them. Physician encouragement negatively predicted barriers at p = .066. No other predictors approached significance. Conclusions: Serious misconceptions remain about specific aspects of the diseases and how they are acquired. Health education efforts are needed to improve knowledge in college populations and counteract perceived barriers.     

Depressive Symptoms in Mothers of Recently Adopted Post-Institutionalized Children

To determine whether depressive symptoms are elevated within months of adoption, we compared women who had recently adopted a toddler from an overseas orphanage to women with children of the same age who adopted more than a year before or were raising a child they birthed. The groups did not differ significantly in means or in percentage with elevated symptoms (Session 1, χ²(2) = 2.5, ns; Session 2, χ²(2) = 1.38, ns). The results provided no evidence of elevated symptoms in the first months following adoption for women who adopted internationally relative to other women with toddler-aged children.     

Welfare Reform on American Indian Reservations

Abstract

In this article we document trends in welfare caseloads and some initial experiences of service providers and welfare recipients on reservations within Arizona under Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). We document the issues and concerns of state and tribal service providers as they implement the legislation on reservations that are often geographically isolated and which lack infrastructure, jobs, childcare and transportation. We also record experiences of women with children on reservations with the 1996 federal welfare legislation. These families experience similar barriers when trying to move from welfare to work as do their counterparts across the country; however, these barriers are magnified on reservations. The welfare recipients' barriers include: a shortage of employment opportunities on reservations; a lack of transportation and childcare facilities; low levels of education and job experience; and, individual and family problems. Poor families in Indian communities face additional barriers to employment because of their geographic isolation, lack of access to basic necessities (like telephones), as well as stereotypes and discrimination by employers due to ethnicity or personal/family histories.     

Transracial Adoption of Children with Developmental Disabilities

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the transracial adoption of children with developmental disabilities. Thirty-four families who had adopted a child transracially were compared with 63 families who had adopted a child inracially; additionally, we compared adoptions in 13 families who had adopted both transracially and inracially. The adjustment of mothers and fathers was gauged separately at three time points using measures of depression, stress, family strengths, and subjective well-being. Results indicated few differences in functioning between transracial and inracial adoptive parents. Mothers in both conditions maintained low depression scores and comparable means on all other outcome variables. Fathers also revealed similar adjustment patterns despite adoption type. Thus, parents experience both short- and long-term positive outcomes from the transracial adoption of children with developmental disabilities.     

Does the Reason Matter? Variations in Childlessness Concerns Among U.S. Women

Does the reason why women have no children matter with regard to level of childlessness concerns? Reasons include biomedical barriers, situational barriers, delaying motherhood, and choosing to be childfree. The concept of “childlessness concerns” captures the idea that holidays and family gatherings are difficult because of not having children or feeling left out or sad that others have children. Life course and identity theories guided the structural equation model analyses of a representative sample of 1,180 U.S. women without children from the National Survey of Fertility Barriers. The results indicated that women with the least control over pregnancy, those with biomedical barriers, had the highest childlessness concerns. As hypothesized, the association between reasons and childlessness concerns was mediated by the identity‐relevant measure, importance of motherhood. Contrary to the authors' hypothesis, the association was not mediated by social messages to have children. Thus, it is primarily involuntarily childless women who have high childlessness concerns.     

Foster Care to Kinship Adoption: The Road Less Traveled

ABSTRACT

Although a rather extensive literature concerning informal kinship care and kinship foster care has emerged over the past 30 years, much less is known about the children and families involved in kinship adoption. This article pays particular attention to recent research that investigates placement decisions and outcomes for former foster children adopted by relatives. This review suggests conclusions similar to broader reviews, in that kinship placement tends to show some consistently favorable outcomes across a range of study populations and methods. Financial need may be the greatest concern for relatives who adopt. The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 expands adoption subsidies and provides states with the option of providing ongoing subsidies to certain relatives who take guardianship of family members from the foster care system. However, relative caregivers often are not well informed about financial supports afforded them by federal and state policies. Specialized programs for kinship adoptive families are still limited. Much of the growth of kinship placement has been due to the absence of other placement options for many children and value-based decision making that places a premium on kinship, rather than on evidence of the advantages of kinship adoption.     

Psychological Functioning Through the First Six Months in Mothers Adopting from China: Special Needs Versus Non–Special Needs

ABSTRACT

This paper describes research investigating maternal adjustment to parenthood via special needs and non–special needs adoption from China. China's adoption system has a program for adoption of children with special needs and those without and both have remained top sources for intercountry adoption. Participants were 46 women who were surveyed at six weeks before, six weeks after, and six months after adopting a child. The psychological functioning of mothers adopting from China was assessed using the Beck Depression Index, the Brief Symptom Inventory, and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scales. Mothers adopting children without special needs reported higher levels of depression, anxiety, and adjustment problems at clinical levels six weeks following the adoption. Mothers adopting children with special needs reported positive adjustment and low psychological dysfunction at all three time points. These results suggest that mothers pursuing a non–special needs adoption route are at greater risk for adjustment and psychological difficulties post-adoption. Mothers adopting special needs children may be better prepared prior to the adoption and may receive more support after returning home.