Openness in Adoption
Exploring Family Connections
- Harold D. Grotevant - University of Minnesota, USA
- Ruth Gail McRoy - University of Texas, Austin, USA
June 1998 | 239 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
Since the mid-1970s, adoption practices in the United States have changed dramatically, and the confidentiality maintained in the past is no longer the norm. The trend is toward openness in adoption in which either mediated (through an adoption agency) or direct contact occurs between the adoptive family and birth parent(s). Some adoption professionals argue that openness is harmful and experimental while others argue that the secrecy of confidential adoptions has been harmful to all parties involved. WhoÆs right? In Openness in Adoption, this question is addressed via a nationwide study of 720 individuals (190 adoptive fathers, 190 adoptive mothers, 171 adopted children, and 169 birthmothers) that was conducted over a five-year period. The book begins by presenting the issues and debates surrounding open adoptions and then examines them from the perspective of the adopted children, adoptive parents, and birth mothers. The volume concludes with implications for adoption practice, public policy, and future research.
A groundbreaking volume, Openness in Adoption provides a wealth of information to professionals and practitioners in the fields of family studies, sociology, developmental psychology, social work, clinical psychology, and social psychology.
Openness in Adoption
with Susan Henney and Steven J Onken
Changing Agency Practices toward Openness in Adoption
Method
with Gretchen Miller Wrobel et al
Outcomes for Children
with Deborah Lewis Fravel and Carol Elde
Adoptive Parents' Perspectives on Their Roles and Relationships with Birthparents
with Cinda Christian and Chalandra Bryant
Birthmothers' Adjustment and Resolution of Grief
with Manfred van Dulmen
The Adoptive Kinship Network
General Conclusions and Implications
"Grotevant and McRoy’s Openness in Adoption is an excellent example of a well-designed, focused, thoughtful piece of research carried out in a field that is complex and controversial."
Child and Family Social Work