Geographies of migration and relatedness: transmigrancy in open transnational adoptive parenting

Abstract

Current transnational adoptive parenting is characterized by ambiguous practices of (1) discursively distancing adoptive children from immigrants, while (2) symbolically or actually reconnecting newly constituted families to children's birth countries through charity and culture work. This ambiguity reveals the ubiquity of contradictory and essentialist understandings of categories of familial and national belonging. However, adoptive parents’ strategies for accommodating their children's sense of belonging may also open up space for rethinking care and family building in transnational contexts. Using the case of a Belgian family who adopted a 12-year-old girl from Ethiopia, decided to maintain strong connections with the child's biological family, engage in charity work in Ethiopia and forge strong ties with immigrant communities in Belgium, the article explores how the concept of ‘transmigration’ may further our understanding of identity configurations within adoptive families. Furthermore, this particular case of ‘open’ transnational adoptive parenting testifies to adoptive parents’ efforts to escape from essentialist and exclusionary frameworks and create counter-spaces of multiplicity and transmigrancy in a context of severe social and economic inequality.

Géographies de migration et de parenté: transmigration dans l'éducation parentale adoptive transnationale

L'éducation parentale adoptive transnationale actuelle se caractérise par les pratiques ambiguës de (1) distancer discursivement les enfants adoptés des immigrants, et en même temps de (2) reconnecter symboliquement et dans les faits les familles récemment constituées aux pays de naissance des enfants à travers du travail caritatif et culturel. Cette ambiguïté révèle l'ubiquité de vues contradictoires et essentialistes de catégories d'appartenance familiale et nationale. En utilisant le cas d'une famille belge qui a adopté un enfant de douze ans d'Ethiopie, a décidé de maintenir des connections fortes avec la famille biologique de l'enfant, de s'investir dans un travail caritatif en Ethiopie et de forger des relations étroites avec les communautés immigrantes en Belgique, l'article explore comment le concept de « transmigration » pourrait faire avancer notre compréhension des configurations d'identité dans les familles adoptives. De plus, ce cas particulier d'éducation adoptive transnationale « ouverte » témoigne des efforts de la part des parents adoptifs d'échapper aux cadres essentialistes et d'exclusion et de créer des contre-espaces de multiplicité et de transmigration dans un contexte de forte inégalité sociale et économique.

Geografías de migración y relación: transmigración (transmigrancy) en la crianza adoptiva transnacional abierta

Actualmente, la crianza adoptiva transnacional abierta se caracteriza por prácticas ambiguas de (1) distanciar discursivamente a hijos adoptivos de inmigrantes, mientras que (2) simbólica o realmente volver a conectar a familias recién constituidas con los países de nacimiento de los niños a través de la caridad y del trabajo cultural. Esta ambigüedad revela la ubicuidad de los entendimientos contradictorios y esencialistas de categorías de pertenencia familiar y nacional. Sin embargo, las estrategias de los padres adoptivos para acomodar el sentido de pertenencia de los niños también pueden abrir un espacio para repensar el cuidado y desarrollo de la familia en contextos transnacionales. Tomando el caso de una familia belga que adoptó un niño etíope de doce años, decidió mantener fuertes vínculos con la familia biológica del niño, participa en obras de caridad en Etiopía y forja fuertes lazos con las comunidades de inmigrantes en Bélgica, el artículo explora cómo el concepto de ‘transmigración’ puede mejorar nuestra comprensión de las configuraciones de identidad dentro de las familias adoptivas. Además, este caso particular de crianza adoptiva transnacional ‘abierta’ da testimonio de los esfuerzos de los padres adoptivos para escapar de los marcos esencialistas y excluyentes y crear contra-espacios de multiplicidad y transmigración en un contexto de grave desigualdad social y económica.

Keywords::

• adoption
• adoptive parents
• open adoption
• immigration
• transmigration
• identity

Keywords::

• Palabras claves: adopción
• padres adoptivos
• adopción abierta
• inmigración
• transmigración
• identidad

Palabras claves::

• Mots clés: adoption
• parents adoptifs
• adoption ouverte
• immigration
• transmigration
• identité

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the editors of this special issue and to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable feedback and support.

Notes

^1. OECD stands for the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, which represents the most economically privileged countries of the world.

^2. The names of participants and some biographical details have been changed.

^3. The term ‘open adoption’ generally refers to adoption arrangements in which there is an exchange of identifying information and/or ongoing contact between members of the child's biological and adopted family (Siegel, 2006). Openness can be limited to access to adoption records for the parties involved (and thus to the potential for actual contact), or can include face-to-face pre-adoption meetings, post-placement communication through letters and photos or ongoing post-placement contact through actual physical meetings between the birth and adopted family members.

^4.Source: Kind & Gezin Activiteitenverslagen. Retrieved February, 2, 2014 from http://www.kindengezin.be/brochures-en-rapporten/rapporten/adoptie/default.jsp.

^5. Bruges, Brussels and the Ardennes are popular tourist destinations in Belgium.

^6. This even seems to be entangled with medicalized discourses that construct adoptees as requiring rescue from a somatic risk (Van Wichelen, 2013).

^7. See for instance. Retrieved December 5, 2013, from http://www.brandeis.edu/investigate/adoption/ethiopia.html.

Additional information

Funding

The writing of this paper was conducted in the author's function as Postdoctoral Fellow of the Research Foundation Flanders [FWO] [grant number FW013/PDO/030] and as 2013–2014 visiting fellow of the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies. The material presented in this article is based on fieldwork (2008–2012) funded by the Ghent University Special Research Fund [BOF] [grant number 01D01008].