Search Results for: blog does research validate our fears

October: Adoption Blog Month in Review

In the adoption blogs for October you’ll find several series: one series on research on “how adopted children turn out” and the genes-vs.-environment question, one on giving back and how adoption makes the world seem a bit smaller, and one on single parent adoption. Media reviews included a workbook helping parents imagine what an inter-country move might be like for their child and think through related decisions. I also reviewed a wonderful resource for parents who think their child may have been exposed to alcohol prenatally. Another review was of an incredible story of an Ethiopian woman who runs two … Continue reading →

Does Research Validate Our Hopes?

My last blog shared, and sometimes critiqued, some negative psychological research on adoptees. This blog will focus on research showing positive outcomes for adoptees. As I said in my last blog, this is not a comprehensive expert research review—just a parent sharing some things to mull over. A 1964 study performed developmental appraisals on fifty adopted children between ages three and seven. All of the children had learned about their adoption before the researchers met them, and none of the children were being seen in counseling or reported to have problems. Their I.Q.s were higher than expected. There was no … Continue reading →

Does Research Validate Our Fears?

My last blogs have talked about the fears adoptive parents sometimes have, and the media images and popular misconceptions feeding them. This blog and the next one will address whether research supports the idea that children who were adopted are more likely to have problems in school, in family life, and in relating to others and society. A cautionary note: It is possible to drown in research studies and come out more confused than when you started. I have spent the past week reading summaries of research studies. No doubt there are other points that the authors of the studies … Continue reading →

What Problems Do Parents of Russian Adoptees Face?

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Most of the world is justly horrified by the fact that Torry Hansen sent her adopted Russian son back to Russia. I admit I don’t know how I would respond if my child threatened to kill me. But as I said in my blog on Wrongful Adoption lawsuits, once an adoption is final, the parent-child relationship is final. If my biological child suffers brain trauma and becomes a danger to others, he may have to live in a residential treatment center, but I would still visit him, try to assist in his healing process, contribute financially to him as much … Continue reading →

Second Grade is Too Young to Become a Hairdresser

Warning: Rant follows. Aaargggh! There, I feel better now. Sort of. What is it, you ask? Well, the short answer is…my mother. I know that’s not terribly original. I don’t even have that much to complain about. My mother really loves my kids. And even though she sends me newspaper clippings on tragic accidents that can happen to children when their parents aren’t careful, I know (though my husband may not believe it) how many times she restrains herself. So what happened? I was the one who started out worrying this time. My mother is a retired teacher. She specialized … Continue reading →

Top Ten Adoption Myths, Part Two

Continuing yesterday’s blog on the top ten myths I hear about adoption: 6. Myth: Social workers will make surprise visits to my home. Reality: Most of our homestudy took place at the agency office. There was one required—and scheduled—visit to our home. Most of our time was spent talking in the living room. The only other room the social worker asked to see was the room where we planned for the child to sleep. We did not have to have this room prepared. She only wanted to make sure there was “enough space”—and she judged that what I considered to … Continue reading →

How Much is Genes, How Much is Environment?

A generation or two ago, adoptive parents (at least adoptive parents of infants) were told that their children were a blank slate. There would be no “embarrassing” sharing of medical or social information from the birth family; that was irrelevant. It would be as though the child was born to the family. Then science began to validate that many more illnesses than previously believed had genetic roots, and that many behavioral problems and mental illnesses had physical roots. Researchers began to study identical twins separated at birth, siblings raised with their birth families, and birth parents of children adopted at … Continue reading →