Communication in Adoptive Families

Abstract

Adoptive families vary widely in form and structure, but one constant is that adoptive families necessitate unique communication patterns to make sense of their history, create and mold identities, and understand differences. This chapter addresses current theorizing and research on communication in adoptive families. The authors explore discourse-dependent strategies that adoptive families use, focusing on internal family strategies (naming, discussing, narrating, ritualizing, and the newly added normalizing), external strategies (labeling, explaining, legitimizing, and defending), and border work strategies that span the internal/external binary (ritualizing, discussing, and connecting). The authors then outline unique experiences of members of the adoption triad, highlighting nuances specific to the adopted child, adoptive parents, birth parents, and extended birth and adoptive family members. Next, the authors describe research on varying communication experiences stemming from family structures, including open adoption, transracial and international adoptive families, and LGBTQ+ adoptive families. The authors conclude with future research directions on adoption research in the contexts of fetal learning and new technology, then they offer practical applications calling for evidence-based educational programming for adoptive families and trauma-informed care.