Adoption Roundtable

Dr. Elisha Marr & Dr. Emily Helder discuss research regarding religiosity and adoption. Dr. Marr outlines the findings from existing nationally representative datasets regarding the link between religious affiliation and likelihood of pursuing adoption, linking this with macro level trends such as the Evangelical orphan care movement. Dr. Helder then discusses research on religious motivation and religious meaning making among adoptive parents. Dr. Marr and Dr. Helder then identify challenges in discerning patterns in the research due to variability in research approach and also outline gaps in the existing research on this topic. They end by thinking through the implications for adoption agencies and adoption professionals. For a transcript and more information visit emilyhelder.com

Dr. Marta Reinoso outlines trends in international adoption in Spain and globally. She then moves on to discuss the role of attachment and bonding within the family system following international adoption, emphasizing the need for adoptees to develop both their individuality and belonging within the family. With greater emphasis in the field of adoption on contact and openness, Dr. Reinoso touches on this in the context of international adoptions and addresses search and reunion efforts among international adoptees. She also describes the importance of adoptive parents supporting the racial and ethnic identity development for their adopted children. Dr. Reinoso ends by highlighting the importance of communication about adoption within the family and the benefits of research centering the perspective of adoptees. For the Spanish with English subtitles version of this interview, visit: https://bit.ly/2FIoi0a. For a transcript and more information visit: emilyhelder.com.

Dr. Amy Whitesel describes the work that she and her colleagues in the Early Growth and Development Study have been conducting. The EGDS is a longitudinal study that includes birth/first families, adopted individuals and their adoptive parents. Dr. Whitesel begins by outlining the design and goals of the EGDS, discussing ways that their study has provided a window into the complex interactions between genes and environment and their impact on child development. Additionally, because of the adoption design, the EGDS allows the team to examine a number of research questions related to the experiences of birth/first families, adopted persons, and adoptive families. Dr. Whitesel highlights some of the ways that their findings push against stereotypes and simplistic narratives about members of the adoptive kinship network and describes future plans for the EGDS as the adopted persons included in the study now approach adolescence and early adulthood. For more information and a transcript visit: emilyhelder.com

Dr. Marta Santos Nunes describes the research on parenting stress among adoptive families. She identifies ways that parental factors, such as expectations and parental warmth, and child characteristics, such as behavioral challenges and age, interact in complex ways to predict parenting stress, attachment, as well as child emotional outcomes. She also highlights ways that expectations from others and stereotypes about adoption can contribute to parenting stress. She ends by emphasizing the uniqueness of each adoptive family system and the importance good pre-adoption preparation and high quality post-adoption supports to ensure the best possible outcomes for adoptees and their families. For a transcript and more information visit: emilyhelder.com

Dr. Danielle Godon-Decoteau describes her research in the area of search and reunion with birth/first family among adult transracial adoptees. She begins by outlining the range of perspectives and thoughts that transracial adoptees have about searching and the factors, both macro and individual, that may impact an adoptees interest or lack of interest in searching. For adoptees pursuing searches, Dr. Godon-Decoteau identifies the variety of resources and approaches, highlighting the ways that the internet and DNA testing have impacted the search process. She then moves on to discuss the wide range of potential outcomes of the search process, highlighting the ways that search and reunion is more complicated than simple narratives often presented in the media. Dr. Godon-Decoteau ends by identifying coping strategies that adoptees use throughout the search process and underscores the importance of adoption-informed professionals who can support adoptees. For more information and a transcript visit emilyhelder.com

Dr. Sharon Glennen describes her research examining speech language outcomes among adopted children. She discusses the complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors in language development and how they explain the variability of outcomes among adoptees as well as serve as predictors for resilience in children experiencing risk factors for poor language outcomes. Dr. Glennen describes the unique experience of international adoptees learning new languages post-adoption and how this is similar to and different from traditional bilingualism in non-adopted children. Dr. Glennen also outlines the typical trajectory of internationally adopted children's learning of new languages, varying by age at adoption, and what factors should trigger a referral to a speech language pathologist for these children. She ends by discussing ways that parents, speech language pathologists, and school personnel can work as a team to provide relevant services and accommodations for adopted children who qualify for these supports. For a transcript and more information, please visit emilyhelder.com.

Dr. Harold Grotevant holds the Rudd Family Foundation Chair in Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is the founding director of the Rudd Adoption Research Program. He, along with Dr. Ruth McRoy, leads the Minnesota/Texas Adoption Research Project (MTARP), a 30+ year longitudinal study with adoptees and their adoptive and birth families. In this interview, Dr. Grotevant outlines the changes that have taken place over the last 50 years in adoption practices, especially as related to openness and on-going communication between members of the adoption kinship network. He describes his own research findings from MTARP as well as findings from other researchers that address the impact of openness for adoptees, adoptive families and birth families. Dr. Grotevant also identifies factors that are related to the ability to maintain openness and communication within an adoptive kinship network over time and the role of agencies and adoption professionals in supporting these arrangements. He ends by emphasizing the fluid nature of openness arrangements, highlighting that adoption is a life-long process and openness and communication will change over time within a kinship network. For more information and a transcript, visit emilyhelder.com.

Dr. Monica Dalen discusses her work on academic outcomes among adoptees. She emphasizes the variability in outcomes and the challenges that emerge when trying to make general statements about adoptees as a group, given the variety of trajectories that adoptees follow. She adds complexity to the understanding of common predictive factors, such as age at adoption, and then outlines language development and executive functioning as important mediating factors that could serve as targets for intervention. For more information and a transcript visit emilyhelder.com.

Dr. Karin Garber describes her research on adoptive microaggressions, beginning by outlining ways that stigma and stereotypes about members of the adoption kinship network can lead to intentional or unintentional negative messages that can be communicated through behavioral, verbal, and environmental means. Dr. Garber goes on to describe the spectrum of microaggressions, providing examples of microassaults, microinsults, and microinvalidations that adoptees may experience. She then compares microaggressions experienced by adoptees with the research on microaggressions experienced by birth/first parents and adoptive parents. Dr. Garber provides helpful suggestions for adoptive parents seeking to support their adoptive children in navigating and responding to microaggressions as well as for practitioners working with members of the adoption kinship network. She concludes by discussing a new area of research that she and others are pursuing related to intraethnic and intraracial microaggressions experienced by transracial adoptees. For more information and a transcript visit emilyhelder.com

Dr. Bibiana Koh, Dr. JaeRan Kim, and Dr. Ruth McRoy discuss the importance of thinking about adoption competency as an ongoing area of development for professionals, rather than an endpoint that can be reached. They outline their research findings from a study that surveyed faculty about their coverage of adoption content in higher education programs. Drs. Koh, Kim & McRoy provide suggestions about adoption related topics that are important to cover at the undergraduate and graduate level of training and also the ways that post-graduate certificate programs can deepen knowledge and practice skills. They describe barriers to the inclusion of adoption content in a variety of fields, despite it's interdisciplinary relevance, and provide policy recommendations for increasing adoption coverage in higher education. For more information and a transcript visit emilyhelder.com