What characteristics are accepted in the child by Brazilian adoption applicants? A latent class analysis

Abstract

Brazilian studies describing the profiles of adoption applicants commonly use frequencies of demographic characteristics and the characteristics accepted in children by adoptions seekers. However, this type of analysis does not allow to examine a systematic relation among these several variables. To fill out this gap, we used a person-centered approach (Latent Class Analysis) to explore Brazilian adoption applicants' profiles regarding the characteristics they report to accept in the adoptive child. We found six profiles: (a) Applicants who accepted non-disabled toddlers with treatable health conditions (Profile 1; the majority); (b) Those who accepted older healthy children (Profile 2); (c) Applicants who accepted young children with moderate disabilities and treatable health conditions (Profile 3); (d) Those who accepted young toddlers, White, non-disabled, and with treatable health conditions (Profile 4); (e) Applicants who accepted healthy teenagers (Profile 5); and (f) Applicants who accepted toddlers with severe disabilities and health conditions (Profile 6). Respondents in profile 5 were older than were those in profiles 1, 3, and 4. Applicants in profile 6 were more likely to have children than were those in profiles 2 and 4. Finally, adoption seekers in profiles 2 and 3 were more likely to have gone through the adoption habilitation process more recently (between 2015 and 2018) than were those in profiles 1 and 4. In sum, there is a predominant applicants' profile that seems to be linked to the motivations for adoptions as well as to macrosystemic factors, which has important implications for public policies related to adoption.