Children adopted by same-sex couples: Identity-related issues from preschool years to late adolescence.

Abstract

Little research has investigated the experience of same-sex adoption from children's perspective. What does it feel like to be adopted by 2 dads or 2 moms? How do the challenges related to being adopted and the challenges related to growing up in a same-sex-parent family overlap in the identity construction of adoptees? This is the 1st European study giving voice to children adopted by same-sex couples focusing on their adoptive and family-related identities at four developmental stages: early childhood, middle childhood, preadolescence, and adolescence. In-depth interviews were conducted with a sample of 44 adoptees (36 males and 8 females; ages 3-18 years) and 62 adoptive parents (16 lesbian women and 46 gay men). Thematic analysis revealed that adoptees deal with unique developmental challenges connected to the intersection of both their adoptive and familial minority statuses. They often reported being confronted with heteronormative assumptions of family, which led them to question themselves regarding the way their family is perceived by others, to idealize the heteronuclear family form, and to increase their curiosity about their birth parents. Findings shed light on the evolution of adoptees' questions, feelings, and experiences related to their unique family arrangement from early childhood through adolescence, suggesting a better integration of their adoptive and minority group statuses at progressively more advanced developmental stages. Analyses underline the importance of open family communication for facilitating the integration of such complex elements in adoptees' emerging identity. Practice implications of the findings are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).