To kin a transnationally adopted child in Norway and Spain: The achievement of resemblances and belonging

Abstract

Transnational adoption has become a major means for involuntarily childless people to become a family, and for people who do not want to go through the ‘normal’ procedures to obtain a child. In this paper we present a comparative analysis of some pertinent features pertaining to the understanding of kinship that arise out of the practice of transnational adoption in Norway and Spain. For a variety of reasons, these two countries have achieved a leading role in the world of transnational adoption in so far as they adopt more children per capita than any other country. This is particularly interesting in light of the very different social and political situation of these two countries. Our focus will be on the concepts employed in the kinning process by adoptive parents and on how they symbolize bodies and personalities in attempts to create meaningful resemblances between themselves and their children.