Abstract

Drawing together the conclusions of this study of adoptive parenthood and open adoption, MacDonald discusses how the meaning and status of adoptive parenthood is contested across various social domains. Culturally, a contest over the relative strength and validity of social versus biological parenthood is notable in adopters’ encounters with microaggressions. Structurally, public adoption from care, especially compulsory adoption, is a contested field of child welfare practice and results in adopters feeling constrained to facilitate birth family contact. On an interpersonal level, adoptions from care are often contested by birth parents, with implications for relationships in the adoptive kinship network. MacDonald identifies contact between adopters and birth relatives as an opportunity for display and recognition of one another’s legitimate kin connection to the child. MacDonald concludes with suggestions for research and empowering practice in open adoption.

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