“People said we were nuts … I understand what they were saying now”: An exploration of the transition to parenthood in sibling group adoption

Despite U.S. federal laws that require placing siblings together in foster care whenever possible, a majority of children are still separated from at least one of their siblings when in foster care or when adopted, due to various barriers including difficulty finding adoptive parents that match the needs of sibling groups. Few studies have focused on the experiences of parents who adopt sibling groups, resulting in little understanding of (a) their motivations for doing so, and (b) the challenges and strengths that accompany sibling group adoption. The current exploratory longitudinal qualitative study aims to address this gap. Twelve parents in six same-sex couples who adopted a sibling group from foster care were interviewed before, immediately after, and two years after they adopted. Findings indicate that sibling group adoption introduces several obstacles during the transition to parenthood including difficulty responding to children\u27s varied needs during the transition and difficulty developing a close bond with each child. Further, parents described challenges integrating their own expectations with the family practices of the sibling group. Parents also indicated ways that adopting siblings together deepened their understanding of their children\u27s behaviors and provided opportunities to establish family norms even when one child was struggling to adapt to the transition. After several years, parents reported reorganizing their family roles to meet the needs of their children. They also identified areas of perceived competence (e.g., behavior management) and areas where challenges persisted (e.g., navigating birth family contact). Implications for policy and practice around supporting sibling group adoptions are discussed

Adopting again: A qualitative study of the second transition to parenthood in adoptive families

The transition to second-time parenthood—i.e., becoming a parent to a second child—is a time of adjustment and change for the whole family. While research has demonstrated that family transitions can be uniquely challenging in the adoptive context, no known research has studied the transition to second parenthood in adoptive families. The current qualitative study explores the transition to second parenthood for heterosexual, lesbian, and gay adoptive parents. Participants were 60 individuals in 30 couples (i.e., 9 heterosexual couples, 10 lesbian couples, and 11 gay male couples) who had adopted their first child two to five years earlier and were in various stages of adopting a second child. Findings centered on parents’ process of considering, preparing for, and then adopting a second child—with parents emphasizing the ways that the second adoption process was different from the first. Specifically, parents described more restrictions on the characteristics of child they would adopt, greater comfort with “holding out” for a child who fit their family, and feeling less stressed by the adoption process. Parents also explained how the unpredictable nature of adoption presented challenges to introducing a second child to the family. Implications for adoptive families and adoption professionals are discussed

\u27There is so much to consider\u27: School-related decisions and experiences among families who adopt noninfant children

Parents who adopt noninfant children often find that these children have academic and behavioral difficulties and may have experienced trauma-challenges that may have implications for school decision making and experiences. This qualitative study examined school selection processes and experiences among lesbian, gay, and heterosexual parents who had adopted children over the age of 24 months (N = 18 families) 5 years earlier. Practical factors (e.g., cost and location) and the unique needs of their children (e.g., diagnoses, trauma history) were often more pressing than race and family structure (i.e., lesbian/gay-parent headed) considerations in selecting schools. Parents encountered complex challenges in establishing and maintaining appropriate school supports and services. Parents and school staff should work collaboratively using trauma-sensitive approaches to help adopted children succeed in school

LGBTQ individuals\u27 experiences with delays and disruptions in the foster and adoption process

Purpose: This mixed-methods study reports findings from 337 LGBTQ adults in the United States who reported delays or disruptions in the adoption or foster care process. Methods: An online survey was distributed by [university] and [large LGBTQ organization], with the goal of understanding LGBTQ individuals\u27 experiences with adoption and foster care. Results: Respondents highlighted LGBTQ specific and general barriers, at multiple levels (legal, adoption agency, birth/foster family, child) that interfered with (a) timely progression through the adoption/foster care process and (b) permanency planning. Conclusion: Adoption practitioners need training in the explicit and implicit ways that LGBTQ prospective adopters may be exposed to marginalization and stress in the adoption/foster care process, and legislation preventing the discrimination of LGBTQ prospective parents is needed

“Life is already hard enough”: Lesbian and gay adoptive parents’ experiences and concerns after the 2016 presidential election.

The 2016 U.S. presidential election was an especially difficult election for many Americans, particularly individuals with one or more marginalized identities. This qualitative study explores the experiences of sexual minority adoptive parents (n = 50), many of whom were members of multiracial families. Parents completed an online survey 2–3 weeks after the November 2016 presidential election, and 2.5 months later (1–2 weeks after the January 2017 inauguration). Through an integrated minority stress and intersectional theory lens, we examined participants’ emotional responses to this stressful, ambiguous political event, their perceptions of how immediate and extended family relationships shifted during the election and its aftermath, and how they coped with stress, including relationship stress, exacerbated by the election and the political climate. Most participants reported experiencing negative emotions such as fear/anxiety, anger, and sadness upon learning the outcome of the election. Many participants reported that the election impacted family dynamics, including conflict with extended family, partners, or children. Adoptive sexual minority parents coped in a variety of ways, including by pursuing activism, connecting with others, and disengaging from thinking about the election. These findings have implications for how mental health care providers may support adoptive sexual minority parent families to cope with stressful political events. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved

Meeting other moms: Lesbian adoptive mothers\u27 relationships with other parents at school and beyond

Little research has examined the friendships of lesbian parents, especially within the context of children\u27s schools. This study of 40 lesbian adoptive parents (20 couples) focused on their relationships with other parents in the school community and how sexual orientation, race, and class dynamics impacted these relationships. Half of the participants described friendships with parents at the school, sometimes in spite of demographic differences, whereas others felt disconnected due to these differences. Outside of school, most participants reported friendships with other lesbian/gay parents. Parents who felt less connected to other parents at school tended to describe more lesbian/gay parent connections. Findings highlight the impact of life stage and context in shaping friendship patterns among lesbian parents

“She is such a sponge and I want to get it right”: Tensions, failures, and hope in white parents’ aspirations to enact anti-racist parenting with their young white children

Whiteness, rooted in White supremacy, gives White people access to power while shielding them from seeing racism and its impacts or from acting to resist racism. Anti-racist allyship occurs when White people act to dismantle racist systems, and it therefore can reduce the socialization into values and epistemologies of Whiteness that uphold White supremacy. In the current study, we examined aspirations and engagement in anti-racist allyship among 19 White parents of young White children. All parents in the study identified themselves as engaged in anti-racism; all but one parent in the sample identified as a woman and most were highly educated and middle class. Using in-depth interviews and analytic methods associated with grounded theory, we find that—even among this self-selected group identified on the basis of their anti-racist intentions—racism, White supremacy, and Whiteness heavily shape their parenting choices and expectations for their children and interfere with their allyship. At the same time, increased knowledge of racism and the desire for authentic connection across difference push parents toward a more genuine anti-racist allyship and cause internal conflict for parents as they attempt to resolve the discrepancy between their goals and their parenting. Our discussion highlights the application of these findings to intervention with White parents to foster anti-racist allyship

“There is no perfect school”: The complexity of school decision-making among lesbian and gay adoptive parents

Parents influence their children\u27s educational experiences in part via school selection. This process is particularly complex for families with multiple minority, potentially stigmatized, statuses. This qualitative study examines middle-class lesbian and gay (LG) adoptive parents\u27 school decision-making. Parents\u27 economic resources provided the foundation for how parents weighed child/family identities (children\u27s race, LG-parent family structure, child\u27s special needs) and school-related concerns (e.g., academic rigor). For White gay male-headed families in affluent urban communities, financial resources muted racial and sexual orientation consciousness in favor of competitive academic environments. Lesbian mothers of modest economic means prioritized racial diversity more centrally. Racial diversity overrode gay-friendliness as a consideration in lesbian-mother families; gay-friendliness was prioritized over racial diversity among families in conservative communities; and special needs overrode all other child and family identity considerations. For LG adoptive parent families, school decision-making has the potential for greater tensions amidst multiple intersecting identities and fewer economic resources