Contact with birth family in intercountry adoptions: Comparing families headed by sexual minority and heterosexual parents |
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| Institution: | 1. National Center on Adoption and Permanency (Northern California Office), 129 Calvert Court, Oakland, CA 94611, USA;2. Department of Psychology, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, MA 01610, USA;1. Kent School of Social Work, Oppenheimer Hall, 2217 South Third Street, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA;2. Sobriety Treatment and Recovery Teams (START), Comissioner''s Office, Department for Community Based Services, Cabinet for Health and Family Services, 275 E. Main St., Frankfort, KY 40601, USA;1. Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa, P/Bag X41, Pretoria 0001, South Africa;2. Health Systems Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, P.O. Box 19070, Tygerberg 7505, South Africa;3. School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town, South Africa;4. Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa, Private Bag X9182, Cape Town 8000, South Africa;1. Department of Sociology, Center on Assets, Education, and Inclusion, University of Kansas, 716 Fraser Hall, 1415 Jayhawk Blvd, Lawrence, KS 66045, United States;2. Center on Assets, Education, and Inclusion, School of Social Welfare, University of Kansas, Twente Hall 309, 1545 Lilac Lane, Lawrence, KS 66044, United States;3. Center on Assets, Education, and Inclusion, University of Kansas, 110 Watkins Home, 1545 Lilac Lane, Lawrence, KS 66045, United States;4. Wabash City Schools, PO Box 744, Wabash, IN 46992, United States;5. George W. Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, 13127 Bent Lane, Fort Wayne, IN 46845, United States;1. Department of Psychology, Clark University, 950 Main St, Worcester MA 01610, USA;2. Center for Research on Families, University of Massachusetts, Amherst MA 01003, USA |
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| Abstract: | Contact between adoptive families and birth families in the context of intercountry adoption, as well as adoption by sexual minorities (e.g., lesbians and gay men), represent understudied topics. In the current study, we examine the extent and type of contact with birth family in intercountry adoptive families headed by heterosexual and sexual minority parents. Data were drawn from the Modern Adoptive Families project, a nationwide, non-random survey of adoptive parents' beliefs and experiences that was conducted from 2012 to 2013. The current sample consisted of 479 families headed by heterosexual parents (H) and 38 families headed by sexual minority women (SM) whose oldest adopted child was younger than 18 years of age and who had been placed from another country. Although no family type difference was found in contact with birth family prior to or at the time of placement (H = 9.6%; SM = 13.2%), sexual minority respondents reported a higher level of contact with one or more members of their children”s birth families following adoptive placement than did heterosexual respondents (SM = 28.9%; H = 14.4%), as well as currently (SM = 21.1%; H 9.8%). They also reported more contact with their children”s birth mothers than did heterosexual parents, although no family type differences were found for contact with other birth family members. Policy and practice implications are discussed. |
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