Chinese Infant Adoptees Form Attachments Quickly

As reported by Adoption Institute -
RESEARCH SHOWS CHINESE INFANT ADOPTEES FORM ATTACHMENTS RAPIDLY


A Canadian study of attachment development among 32 adopted Chinese girls (mean age at adoption = 13 months) found that although adoptive mothers reported more inhibited behaviors initially in their infants, after six months, the reported rate was about the same as for mothers in a comparison group of non-adopted infants. "The Emerging Attachment Relationship between Adopted Chinese Infants and their Mothers," by Mirella Pugliese, Nancy Cohen, Fataneh Farnia and Mirek Lojkasek, is in the December issue of Children and Youth Services Review (Volume 32, Issue 12). The study also reported no variability in adopted and non-adopted children's avoidant or resistant behaviors or in maternal nurturing or rejecting behaviors, concluding that the moderate deprivation these infants experienced before adoption did not interfere with their forming new attachments. To access an abstract, go to: http://bit.ly/h3JGkN.

Study of Adult Adoptees’ Identity Issues

From Adoptive Families Magazine:

The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute released a major study on adoptees’ identity formation. The research included survey responses from 468 adult adoptees, and the study is the most extensive examination of adult adoptive identity to date. (Read the full report at http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/.) Key findings include:

• Adoption becomes increasingly significant for most adoptees—and race/ethnicity grows in importance for adoptees of color—into adulthood, contrary to the notion that these factors diminish in importance after adolescence.
• Adoption-related teasing is a reality for many adoptees, but more so for whites. Race trumped adoption as a cause for teasing for adoptees of color, and a majority experienced race-based discrimination rather than (or in addition to) adoption-related negativity.
• A majority of transracially adopted adults wanted to be white as children, though most eventually grew to identify themselves as members of their racial/ethnic group.
• The most effective strategies for achieving positive identity formation are travel to birth countries and attending racially diverse schools for transracial adoptees, and contact with birth relatives for white adoptees.

Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute

Did you know that until 1975, most States discouraged or directly prohibited foster parents from being considered as potential adoptive parents to children they fostered? It’s true. For the most part, these restrictions existed to protect against foster parents becoming too attached to children who may ultimately be returned to their biological families. Thanks to the educational efforts of advocates, policymakers soon learned that these well meaning laws and policies were, in effect, hindering children from finding a safe, loving and permanent home of their own. So, instead they put in place laws, policies and programs aimed at promoting foster adoption and today 67% of children adopted out of foster care are adopted by their foster parents.

This is just one of many examples of how law and policy can serve as a barrier to children realizing their basic right to a family. Realizing that federal policymakers had the power to overcome such barriers, in 2001, advocates for the world’s orphaned and foster youth founded the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI). In founding CCAI, these advocates sought to match Members of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption’s commitment to finding a home for every child with the information and resources needed to make that dream a reality. Since that time, CCAI has strived to be an objective resource for information critical to advancing the efforts of federal policymakers on behalf of children. Through its five core programs, CCAI’s goal is to educate federal policymakers about the need for reform; coordinate Congressional and community efforts to bring about change and facilitate opportunities for communication and awareness.

http://www.ccainstitute.org/