Adoption

Abstract

Adoption as a means of creating or expanding a family has undergone some remarkable changes in the past half century, resulting in considerable diversity in the constellation and dynamics of adoptive family life. These changes have been fueled by several societal forces including new adoption laws and regulations, research findings from emerging developmental science, and advocacy efforts by key adoption stakeholders. The current chapter explores the synergistic connections between these forces, and specifically between adoption placement practices, adoption law, and developmental science. The first section explores how adoption has been utilized by researchers to study age-old questions about human development, including the role of early experience on later development, recovery from adversity, critical periods in development, and contextual factors that impede or facilitate recovery from adversity. The second section explores the emergence of diversity in adoption in terms of the characteristics of children being adopted and the adults who are adopting them, which has been influenced by changes in adoption law and supported by empirical research challenging narrowly held views about the type of family that best supports children's needs. The third section examines more closely several examples of how developmental research has contributed to the emergence of diversity in adoptive family life, influencing decision making by adoption policymakers, agency administrators, and the court. The rich synergistic exchange between adoption practice, the law, and developmental science supports a more refined view of human development and a better understanding of how best to support adoptive family members.