"We thought we were stronger than we were": adopters' narratives about the adoption journey and disruption.

Introduction: Although the majority of adoptive families remain stable, some of them break up prematurely. Methods: Adopting a qualitative approach, this study gave voice to seven adoption applicants who began the adoption journey with one or more children but did not complete the legal process. Our goal was to understand their experiences throughout the adoption process and disruption. Results: The results show how adoption applicants went, in a short period, from the excitement of finding a child or sibling group to disillusionment and trauma. The main risk factors that hinder adoption stability include unrealistic expectations, intuitive choice of the child in the absence of accurate information, challenges posed by the child's particular characteristics, and lack of professional support. Discussion: Our study highlights the need for adopters to be assisted throughout the entire process by specialists, to be better prepared to deal with the complex needs of children in the protection system, and to facilitate their access to a complex of specialized services to meet the different needs of every family.

Temporalidade no estabelecimento do vínculo parento-filial em adoções malsucedidas / Temporality in establishing the parent-child bond in unsuccessful adoptions / Temporalidad en el establecimiento del vínculo padre-hijo en adopciones fallidas

Este estudo é parte de uma ampla investigação sobre a vivência do processo de adoção malsucedida de crianças e adolescentes sob a perspectiva dos adotantes. Foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa, com base em entrevistas semiestruturadas com 11 sujeitos independentes, nove mulheres e dois homens, moradores de diferentes estados do Brasil, que vivenciaram adoções malsucedidas. Buscamos analisar as percepções dos adotantes relacionadas à temporalidade no estabelecimento do vínculo parento-filial nessas adoções. A temporalidade da gestação simbólica foi vivenciada pelos participantes de diferentes formas, podendo ser afetada pela lentidão no processo administrativo e/ou por fantasias e idealizações referentes à origem da criança/adolescente. Tanto a demora quanto a tentativa de agilização do processo de adoção são fatores que podem gerar ansiedade na experiência da gestação simbólica e que não serão amparados no tempo cronológico, afetando o estabelecimento do vínculo parento-filial. Ressaltamos a relevância do cuidado nos períodos iniciais de construção do vínculo parento-filial, considerando a temporalidade particular de cada caso e a história pregressa da criança/adolescente, aspecto que influencia o sucesso do processo de adoção.(AU)

This study is part of a broad investigation about the experience of the unsuccessful adoption process of children and adolescents from the perspective of the adopters. Qualitative research was carried out, based on semi-structured interviews with 11 independent subjects, nine women and two men, living in different states of Brazil, who experienced unsuccessful adoptions. We seek to analyze the perceptions of adopters related to the temporality in establishing the parent-child bond in these adoptions. The temporality of the symbolic gestation was experienced by the participants in different ways, which can be affected by the slowness of the administrative process and/or by fantasies and idealizations regarding the origin of the child/adolescent. Both the delay and the attempt to speed up the adoption process are factors that can generate anxiety in the experience of symbolic gestation and that will not be supported in chronological time, affecting the establishment of the parent-child bond. The relevance of care stands out in the initial periods of parent-child bond construction considering the particular temporality of each case and the child's/adolescent's past history, aspect that influences the success of the adoption process.(AU)

Este estudio es parte de una extensa investigación sobre la experiencia del proceso fallido de adopción de niños y adolescentes desde la perspectiva de los adoptantes. Se realizó una investigación cualitativa a partir de entrevistas semiestructuradas con 11 sujetos independientes, nueve mujeres y dos hombres, residentes en diferentes estados de Brasil, que experimentaron adopciones fallidas. En este trabajo se analizan las percepciones de los adoptantes relacionadas con la temporalidad en el establecimiento del vínculo padre-hijo en adopciones fallidas. La temporalidad del embarazo simbólico fue vivida por los participantes de diferentes formas, las cuales pueden verse afectadas por la lentitud del proceso administrativo y por fantasías e idealizaciones sobre el origen del niño/adolescente. Tanto la demora como el intento de agilizar el proceso de adopción pueden generar ansiedad por la vivencia del embarazo simbólico y que no serán sustentados en el tiempo cronológico, lo que afecta establecer este vínculo. Se enfatiza la relevancia del cuidado en los períodos iniciales de construcción del vínculo considerando la temporalidad particular de cada caso y la historia pasada del niño/adolescente, un aspecto que influye en el éxito del proceso de adopción.(AU)

Predicting re-involvement for children adopted out of a public child welfare system.

Some of the approximately 400,000 children currently placed out-of-home in a public child welfare system will not reunify with their family of origin. They may instead be adopted into a new family. Adoption placements can be characterized by poor adjustment for children; some such placements even result in disruption or dissolution. We conducted a stratified Cox regression of 4,016 children from the Colorado public child welfare system. All of the children had a finalized adoption during the years 2002 through 2006. The two outcomes analyzed were new child protection and youth-in-conflict referrals and assessments for these previously adopted children. New child welfare referrals and assessments may be early indicators of poor adjustment for adopted children within the adoptive family. Study results indicate that older children and Hispanic children had higher rates of referral and assessment. Children with a pre-adoption history including longer time out-of-home or a larger number of out-of-home placements also experienced higher referral and assessment rates. Additional factors which predicted subsequent system re-involvement included presence of paid adoption assistance, adoption by a non-relative foster parent and younger adoptive parent age. Several study results were moderated by the presence or absence of an ethnic match between the child and the adoptive parents. We provide an overview of the statistical model used for analysis and we discuss implications of the study results for child welfare practice.