Single-parent adoptions of children with special needs: Between deficit and empowerment

Abstract

Policies and practices of domestic and intercountry adoption explicitly and tacitly establish a matching between older children—or with some type of special need—and single-parent applicants, both of which are usually given lower priority. Based on the results of two qualitative research studies conducted in Chile and Spain with single adoptive mothers, we analyze the heterogeneous motivations and preferences of adopters with respect to the profiles of children declared adoptable, the meanings attributed to technical criteria and professional interventions, especially in the suitability and matching processes. The traditional perspective that considers single-parenthood as a risk factor and this profile of children as the most vulnerable reproduces practices of stigmatization and discrimination. We discuss the need to develop approaches, criteria and interventions focused on the capacities and resources of individuals who have been generally stigmatized in adoptive processes, as well as the political and institutional need and obligation to provide support and support resources in the pre-and post-adoptive phase.