Summary (HOME)
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
References
LEGAL STUFF Written Text Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 Jean Marie Wilson Cannot be reprinted without permission. Must be referenced in all documents
Many of the articles in professional journals focus on reasons to adopt special needs children. It was difficult to find articles that focussed on reasons to adopt healthy infants, to adopt internationally, and there were very few that addressed adoption of minority (usually African-American) infants by minority (usually African-American) adoptive parents.
Two articles printed in the 1970's (29, 62) gave reasons for adopting. Herzog (29) surveyed adopters of African-American children and found "child-centered reasons" and "parent-centered reasons." Child-centered reasons were divided by the author into two categories: "emotional warmth towards children," and "social consciousness." "Emotional warmth" reasons included
"love of children
�enjoyment of children
�liking to have children around�
pity for a child" (i.e. "every child is entitled to a family")
"cultural conditioning" (part of Judeo-Christian ethic)�
need to feel complete
�to receive as well as give�
and approval of adding a child to a family where the parents have had several and are confident of their ability to look after children."
Social conciousness reasons included a
"�sense of responsibility for rearing children who need care and protection
�ethical or religious belief
�better to add children through adoption than giving birth" (i.e. due to awareness of "population explosion"). Herzog's (29)
Parent-centered reasons included:
"something lacking and a wish for self-fulfillment�
desire to avoid pregnancy" (due to medical contraindications or to avoid interrupting a career)
"�hope of strengthening or improving family composition�" (improving a marriage, adding a sibling, to get a child of a specific sex or coloring, avoiding disabilities)
"�status-conformity�
pressure from family or friends to have children�
"leave something to posterity"
�"have a stake in the future.'"
Silverman and Feigelman (62) studied people who adopted special needs children. They found (Caucasian) liberals and "radicals" were more open to adopting African-American children, and the very religious were more likely to adopt both developmentally delayed and physically challenged children.
Out of the five articles published in the 1980's (27, 50, 51, 52, 68), again, the adoption of special needs children is addressed, with the exception of one study (51). That study addresses the adoption of young (age five years or less at placement) African-American children by African-American adopters.
Proch (52) studied foster parents who adopted their foster children. The reasons the parents gave for adopting were:
Having become foster parents in hopes of adopting (25%);
Becoming attached to their foster child (40%);
Being "forced" by the child's agency to adopt-the foster parents saw the child as
theirs, and saw no need to adopt, but, the agency threatened to place the child elsewhere for adoption (32%);
And, three of the parents adopted out of a sense of obligation or guilt.
Pierce (50) found two reasons to adopt: infertility and having already adopted one child. Unger, Diener, and Wilson (68) studied special needs adopters, from a cognitive-social learning approach. There are five cognitive-social learning variables. They were operationalized for the study as follows:
a) "competencies�the parent felt were necessary to adopt a child with special needs;"
b) "expectancies�what parents perceived are the consequences of adoption;"
c) "subjective-stimulus value�personal importance of this child or this adoption to the parent;"
d) "encoding�awareness of the availability�of children with special needs�for adoption;" and
e)" self-regulatory systems�sense of responsibility and duty felt by the parent to help."
The reasons the authors found for adopting were:
Competencies:
"patience
�understanding�
parenting skills and training in child
development�
felt children with special needs could be cared for by persons
without special child training
�having known or lived with someone with special
needs (71%)�
had been the child's foster parent (80%);"
Expectancies:
"could provide stability and security (56%)�
love for the child
(39%)�
18% felt they could correct or alleviate the child's special need;"
Subjective-Stimulus Value:
"11% became emotionally attached to the child;"
Encoding:
information from having been a foster parent (41%)
and from agencies (21%);
"through job or volunteer work (12%);
"experiences of other family
members with special needs" (no % given);
Self-Regulatory System:
felt "personal responsibility for providing a useful
service to their community (45%) and
for generally helping others (55%)."
Prater and King (51) studied 12 African-American adopters of children adopted as infants (75%) or adopted prior to age five years (25%). Seventy-five percent adopted due to infertility, and 75% also said they adopted "to "share our love with a child.'" Thirty-three percent wanted "to 'give a child without a home, a home and family,'" and 25% adopted to get a girl, because they only had boys.
Hairston and Williams (27) also studied African-American adopters. Their reasons for adopting were: to give a child a permanent home (70%); infertility (50%); increase the size of their families (21%); and to obtain a sibling for their child (14%). Thirty percent gave other reasons such as wanting a child of a particular sex; loving children; see that a sibling group remains intact; attachment to a foster child; and a "moral obligation to share their well-being with others."
Out of eight articles printed in the 1990's (23, 24, 40, 41, 45, 66, 70, 78), two (70, 78) focus on adoption by parents with disabilities, and one (40) compares adoptive and biological parenting experiences. All the rest of the articles explore why people adopt children with special needs, with one (66) focussing on the creation of large adoptive families, through the adoption of special needs children.
People with disabilities sometimes adopt due to infertility caused by their disability, such as diabetes or spinal cord injury causing "impotence or the inability to produce viable semen for insemination " (70). Zirinsky-Wyatt and her husband chose adoption due to infertility. Her husband had kidney failure, and she had infertility problems unrelated to her cerebral palsy. They eventually adopted a baby placed with them as a foster child (78).
People with disabilities also adopt to avoid passing on the genes that caused their own condition. In addition, they adopt to "bring a sense of fulfillment to their lives" (70). These reasons are similar to ones found in other research.
Levy-Schiff, et. al. (40) conducted a comparison study of adoptive and biological parents of infants. The study was conducted in Israel, and they found the adoptive parents were, "with very few exceptions... infertile couples who attain adoption after long years of....their inability to have children."
Marx (45) studied parents who adopt children with developmental disabilities. Parents gave reasons such as: "we're rescuers for sure..;" a hope of avoiding institutionalization of the child; because the family had lost a biological child; "reluctance regarding pregnancy, or another pregnancy�'I don't want a baby;'" making up for a lack in their own childhood; a wish for a child; and a feeling that if God had not wanted them to adopt this child, the adoption would not have gone forward. In addition, many of the parents had either personal experience or professional experience with people with disabilities.
In both of their studies, Goetting and Goetting (23, 24) found 20 reasons people adopted children with special needs. The top two were "love and warmth" for children and having been the child's foster parent. The other 18 reasons included several Marx (45) had found, plus enjoying a challenge; making them feel they're a better person; pleasing a spouse, and adding to the family income (due to the child being eligible for a subsidy); and because they were not able to adopt a non-handicapped child.
Tremitiere (66) studied large adoptive families. Fifty-three percent of her families cited religious reasons for adoption "based on a concern for waiting children and a desires to 'share what we have.'" Twenty percent adopted "originally because they were childless and 'felt it was the logical way to have a large family.'" Once they adopted one child, they "felt 'it was natural to open our home to more.'" The other 27% said "they had always wanted to adopt�because there is such a need for homes for innocent children" and "just because they are there."
Shelley Lindsay (41) wrote her story of adopting ten special needs children, after she and her husband had three boys by birth. Her reasons included:a "vow to never allow our lives to become boring;" her husband being one of ten children and she was an only child; wanting a girl (they adopted four girls and six boys); adopting her (adopted) son's cousin; and becoming aware of children waiting for permanent homes in foster care.
Although there is not a regular pattern of reasons to adopt in these articles from professional journals, infertility is cited in seven articles; love of children, religious/ethical reasons, and having been the child's foster parent were found in six articles; and needing to feel fulfilled (to feel complete or to meet a lack in one's personal life); to correct a lack felt in childhood; to obtain a child of a certain sex or a sibling for a child already in the home; and familiarity with disabilities were reasons expressed in four articles. Three articles mention pity, social responsibility, improving a marriage, social approval, loss of a biological child, correcting a child's special needs, and wanting to give a child a permanent home.
Reason and Source #
Infertility (27, 29, 40, 50, 51, 70, 78)
Love of children (23, 24, 27, 29, 51,68)
Part of Judeo-Christian ethic/ other religious reasons (23, 24, 29, 45, 62, 66)
Child's foster parent (23, 24, 45, 52, 68, 78)
Needing to be fulfilled/meet a lack in personal life (23, 24, 29, 70)
Lack in childhood (23, 24, 29, 45)
Sibling for child in home (23, 24, 27, 29)
Child of certain sex (27, 29, 41, 51)
Familiarity with people with disabilities (23, 24, 45, 68)
Pity (23, 24, 29)
Social responsibility (27, 45, 68)
Improve marriage (23, 24, 29)
Social approval (23, 24, 29)
Loss of biological child (23, 24, 45)
Want to give child permanent home (27, 51, 66)
Enjoyment of children (29, 51)
Wanted a child/ children (45, 66)
Challenge of difficult task (23, 24)
Constructive way to spend time (23, 24)
Please spouse (23, 24)
Add to income through subsidy (23, 24)
Enjoy being in charge (23, 24)
Unable to adopt non-special needs child (23, 24)
Became aware of children needing homes (41, 68)
Like to have children around (29)
To receive as well as give (29)
Confident in ability to look after more children (29)
Better to add through adoption (29)
Avoid pregnancy (29)
Avoid disabled child (29)
All friends/ family have children (29)
Pressure to have children (29)
An heir (29)
Threat by agency to take child (52)
Guilt (52)
Already adopted one child (50, 66)
Correct child's special needs (23, 24, 68)
Always wanted to adopt (66)
Increase family size (27, 66)
Keep a sibling group intact (27)
Avoid passing on genetic trait for disability (70)
Rescue child (45)
Avoid institutionalization of child (45)
Avoid pregnancy/ another pregnancy (45)
Three women wrote to me in response to a request placed in Real Moms, an adoption newsletter. Two women's reason for adopting was infertility. One woman gave two reasons: knowing there are children who need homes, and always having wanted to adopt. All three of these reasons are similar to the ones mentioned in the articles.
Barbara Holtan is the director of Tressler Lutheran Services-Adoption Services, which has offices in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. Her agency specializes in the placement of special needs children. I want to give her reactions to some of the reasons I have come across in my research, as well as some she has heard during her time at Tressler (33) (all of the following is a direct quote from this article):
Reason...Reaction
I want a playmate for my birthchild....Hire a neighbor's child;
My religion tells me to reach out to those less fortunate than I... Put a big donation in the collection plate next Sunday;
My infertility is a constant sadness. It hurts terribly... We know. It's devastating but you need to understand that adopting does not cure infertility;
We are quite well off and could give so many things to a child... Write a check to your favorite children's charity;
Our marriage is shaky and a child will bring us back together... Never happen!;
Since we can't have birthkids, I guess we might as well adopt... It's a start but you need to get past that second-best notion;
There's no difference anyway. Adoptive parenting and birth parenting are really the same. Aren't they?...Nope. Neither is better or worse, but they ARE different;
I really want to adopt, but my husband is ambivalent. He'll come around once the child is ours...What if he doesn't?;
I feel so empty inside. A child will fill that emptiness...Find a friend;
I just want to cry when I think about all those poor homeless children. I think I'll take one in...No child needs pity. Donate to the missions;
There's absolutely no child I couldn't love...Ouch! We could show you a few;
I am a teacher (or mental health worker or social worker or doctor) and I am a "pro" at dealing with children...Being a child professional is a lot different from being someone's parent;
Besides, all these children really need is a lot of love...We used to think that too. We know better now;
I/We just really like kids and want to add one (or more) to our family. I want to be someone's parent. I know I have a lot to learn but I want to begin...YES! Go for it! You are on the right road.
People who adopt special needs children tend to:
Generally not be infertile (13, 71);
Be of "modest educational background" (13, 71);
Struggle to maintain middle class status/ be in blue collar occupations (13, 71);
Have above average marital stability (13, 71);
Be of religious orientation (13, 71);
Be mature (13, 71);
Have reasons other than personal fulfillment (such as always wanting to adopt) for adopting (71);
Have a "family-centered life" (13);
Have "experience with stress (13) and report having handled "significant challenges and hardships" (71);
Be receptive "to a teamwork approach to adoption" (71); and
Have a desire to adopt a child with disabilities (13).
Adoptive parents of non-special needs children tend to be more mature and married longer (58).
Some states use special recruiting techniques to attract special needs adopters. These include "child-specific recruitment"-advertising a specific child who is available for adoption; sponsoring adoption festivals and picnics to bring children and prospective parents together; and promoting special needs adoption through awareness campaigns and "800" numbers to contact state departments of social services (65). Illinois has contracted out its adoption services to private adoption agencies, in hopes that private agencies, which are already geared to recruiting adoptive parents, will be able to devote more time and resources than public agencies can to placing children in foster care in permanent homes (65). Awareness of special needs children needing homes is a reason Lindsay (41) gave for adopting and was a reason mentioned in Unger, et. al. (68).
Englund (16) studied parents (both biological and adoptive) and grandparents. He asked them their reasons for becoming parents, and he was given the following responses:
"Having a complete family;"
Experiencing life fully;
"Providing meaning and purpose to life;"
Bring love and companionship;
(Being a parent) "gives one something useful to do;"
"Carry on the family name;"
Being "able to teach" a child; and
"Motivating the husband to do better at work."
Again, many of these reasons are the same ones previously encountered (except "motivating the husband to do better at work") given by adoptive parents. Blum (10) in 1983, cited Neubauer when he said, "'Further studies are needed on the motives for adoption and on those childless couples who choose not to adopt, as well as those who have a natural child before or after adopting a child.'" Even with all the research available, there is still not an answer as to why people adopt, since most of the studies focussed on special needs adoption. The following study was designed to add to the information about why some people have chosen to become adoptive parents.
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