Deciding Not to Adopt: The Role of Normative Family Ideologies in Adoption Consideration

ABSTRACT

Americans view adoption favorably, yet few consider adopting or actually adopt a child. Using qualitative data from the representative National Survey of Fertility Barriers, we explored why women who had considered adoption decided not to pursue it as a pathway to parenthood. Our sample includes responses from 1,747 women who considered adoption at some point. Seven themes emerged: prioritization of biology, economic concerns, family building prerequisites, relationship barriers, barriers to adoption, family barriers, and change of heart. Findings highlight that barriers to adoption are not always the primary reasons women opt out of adoption; normative conceptualizations of “family” are also important.

KEYWORDS:

• Adoption decisions
• pronatalism
• normative family ideologies
• adoption barriers

Acknowledgements

This paper was presented at the 2014 Midwest Sociological Society Meetings in Omaha. We would like to thank Arthur L. Greil and Katherine Johnson for feedback on prior versions of this paper.