Communication about Origins and Search in Adoption: A Parental Perspective

Abstract

Adoptive parents’ role is to accompany their children in the process of integrating issues occurred before the adoption, so that adoptees reach a meaningful narrative. This research explored adoptive parents’ perspective on communication about origins and search. Thirty adopters with children between 14 and 26 years old took part in interviews analyzed following Thematic Analysis. Results showed a perception of openness in communication and an adequate comprehension of their children, sometimes hindered by the seemingly little importance their children give to their origins, or the reduced communication about them. Moreover, it was found that, sometimes, parents are the ones showing more interest in the search for origins.

Keywords:

• Adoption
• communication about origins
• search
• adoptive parenthood
• thematic analysis

Disclosure statement

No potential competing interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Deusto Research Training Grants Programme. Our gratitude to the associations that have collaborated with the study, and, of course, to participants.