Contact in Adoption: The Experience of Adoptive Families in the USA
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Contact in adoption is a complex issue that adoption professionals frequently negotiate. Today most adoption placements include an initial plan for contact that in many instances changes over time. By understanding contact as an issue that presents itself over the course of an adopted person's lifetime, the complexities it brings to the adoption experience can be seen. Gretchen Miller Wrobel, Harold D Grotevant, Jerica Berge, Tai Mendenhall and Ruth McRoy discuss contact from a US perspective using findings from the Minnesota/Texas Adoption Project, a longitudinal study of openness in adoption. They examine how curiosity, satisfaction with adoptive contact, family communication and searching influence decision-making about the extent of contact. Implications for adoption professionals in the USA and the UK are also presented.
Department(s)
Psychology
Publication Title
Adoption and Fostering
Volume
27
Issue
1
First Page
57
Last Page
67
Publication Date
4-1-2003
DOI
10.1177/030857590302700108
ISSN
03085759
Recommended Citation
Wrobel, Gretchen Miller; Grotevant, Harold D.; Berge, Jerica; Mendenhall, Tai; and McRoy, Ruth, "Contact in Adoption: The Experience of Adoptive Families in the USA" (2003). Psychology Faculty Publications. 17.
https://spark.bethel.edu/psychology-faculty/17