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What are the characteristics of good (adoptive) parents? A literature review

Summary

Background and issue

The group of children released for adoption is essentially our country's or other countries' child welfare children. Many have been exposed to neglect and many have major health challenges. This places great demands on the capacity and caring ability of adoptive parents, not only while the children are minors, but also in a life course perspective. In order to be able to make a good and sound assessment of adoption applicants , it is necessary to have up-to-date knowledge of which factors are important for the applicants' ability to take care of an adopted child's care needs and howthe various factors may affect the ability to care over time. The Directorate for Children, Adolescents and Families (Bufdir) has therefore asked the National Institute of Public Health to make an assessment of the criteria currently used in assessing applicants for adoption. The assessment of the criteria shall be made in the light of a literature review with a systematic search of which characteristics of adoptive parents are important for the adoptive children's health and development. The report is a presentation of the results of this literature review.

Method

We conducted a literature review with a systematic literature search based on a number of inclusion and exclusion criteria described in more detail in the report. The report presents and discusses the results from 146 identified studies that included study variables about both adoptive parents / adoptive family and adopted children where (1) the variables about the adopted children were outcome variables, (2) where parental stress was outcome variable, and (3) where the studies maintained sufficient scientific quality.

A loving home for every child

Sumanta Kar believes that youth need to be enabled towards self-reliance as responsible citizens and contributing members of society.

In any society, it is the families that afford children a loving home. When raised in a caring family, the children are more likely to enjoy the cherishable facets of life: health, education, relations, identity, self-actualization, and initiative. Families are important for the children’s holistic development.

We believe that childcare must be at the heart of any development endeavor. Millions of children worldwide, including in India continue to be left behind and their rights denied. They suffer the impacts of poverty, violence, inequality, and exclusion disproportionately, due to their sensitive phase of life and development.

Healthy and happy childhood, quality education, and psycho-social well-being are foundational not only for holistic development but also to a child’s capacity to contribute meaningfully to society. Only well brought up, responsible and self-reliant adults can propel sustainable development by breaking down the circle of poverty and exclusion in the forthcoming generations.

Different circumstances call for different care options for children in need. We provide a range of alternative care solutions customized for every such child – provision of loving homes in children’s villages, strengthening vulnerable families, facilitating quality upbringing in non-biological families, protecting children during emergencies, and supporting the youth on their path to independence.

Elise and Klaas adopted 5 children at once: 'Openness our strength'

Whether they were willing to adopt 5 brothers and sisters at the same time? Elise (37) and Klaas (43) were soon out. "These children needed each other terribly."

Elise: “The past seven years have gone way too fast. My oldest daughter Irma will turn eighteen this year. Efraín is sixteen, Rufino is twelve, Ishmael is eleven and Rosa is ten. Suddenly we only have adolescents in the house and that takes some getting used to. Not only because things can get quite explosive here with their Latino temperament, but also because as parents of teenagers you start the process of letting go. I find that difficult, because I feel I only just got them. I keep telling Irma, 'If you ever move out, please stay close to me.' ”

Always wanted

“I had a girlfriend at primary school who was adopted. Maybe that's why I already said that I wanted to adopt a child later. Although that idea had faded into the background when I married Klaas at the age of 21. Pregnancy was welcome, but we were still young and in no rush. It wasn't until years later that getting pregnant still hadn't worked out, and we turned to the doctor and ended up in the medical mill. We've made a number of IUI attempts, but to be honest, I had my doubts from the beginning. I reacted strongly to the hormone treatments and it felt quite unnatural to look forward to a child like this. After an information evening about IVF, I suddenly knew for sure: I am going to fill out adoption papers.

It has never been discovered why we could not get pregnant, so there is a good chance that a pregnancy was eventually successful. The fact that I was able to close this chapter so easily, I think, is because the desire to adopt children had subconsciously grown within me for a long time. Klaas and I are Christians and we do not believe in coincidence. We think God has led us to this choice. And I like that we can tell our children that adoption was not our last option, but actually the first. ”

Elise and Klaas adopted 5 children at once: 'Openness our strength'

Whether they were willing to adopt 5 brothers and sisters at the same time? Elise (37) and Klaas (43) were soon out. "These children needed each other terribly."

Elise: “The past seven years have gone way too fast. My oldest daughter Irma will turn eighteen this year. Efraín is sixteen, Rufino is twelve, Ishmael is eleven and Rosa is ten. Suddenly we only have adolescents in the house and that takes some getting used to. Not only because things can get quite explosive here with their Latino temperament, but also because as parents of teenagers you start the process of letting go. I find that difficult, because I feel I only just got them. I keep telling Irma, 'If you ever move out, please stay close to me.' ”

Always wanted

“I had a girlfriend at primary school who was adopted. Maybe that's why I already said that I wanted to adopt a child later. Although that idea had faded into the background when I married Klaas at the age of 21. Pregnancy was welcome, but we were still young and in no rush. It wasn't until years later that getting pregnant still hadn't worked out, and we turned to the doctor and ended up in the medical mill. We've made a number of IUI attempts, but to be honest, I had my doubts from the beginning. I reacted strongly to the hormone treatments and it felt quite unnatural to look forward to a child like this. After an information evening about IVF, I suddenly knew for sure: I am going to fill out adoption papers.

It has never been discovered why we could not get pregnant, so there is a good chance that a pregnancy was eventually successful. The fact that I was able to close this chapter so easily, I think, is because the desire to adopt children had subconsciously grown within me for a long time. Klaas and I are Christians and we do not believe in coincidence. We think God has led us to this choice. And I like that we can tell our children that adoption was not our last option, but actually the first. ”

Illegal adoption syndicate busted by NRD

PUTRAJAYA: A fee of between RM8,000 and RM20,000 is the price range to illegally adopt a child.

A decade-old syndicate, operating out of a maternity clinic in Petaling Jaya, has been falsifying birth documents, which will help declare a couple as the biological parents of an adopted child.

The syndicate has been uncovered by the National Registration Department (NRD), following the arrest of two men in their 60s, who are a doctor and an agent.

“The doctor will sign a false LM01 birth registration form, which will claim the couple are the child’s biological parents.

“The agent acts as a runner to help the parents register the child’s birth at the NRD, ” department director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh (pic) said.

The report "Suspicion of illegal conditions in adoptions from Chile to Denmark 1978-1988"

The National Board of Appeal has uncovered the historical adoption mediation cooperation with Chile in the years 1978 to 1988.

In the report, the National Board of Appeal concludes that, in the National Board of Appeal's assessment, it cannot be rejected that the adoption mediation from Chile to Denmark through AC Børnehjælp in the period 1978 to 1988 has been associated with illegal behavior in Chile.

You can read the full report here

The investigation has taken place in continuation of a number of inquiries from adult adoptees from Chile who suspected that illegal actions had been taken in connection with their adoptions. The National Board of Appeal conducted an initial review of information about the adoptees who had approached the board. The National Board of Appeal then assessed that there was sufficient basis for assuming that the adoption agency from Chile could be associated with illegal behavior, and that there was a basis for initiating a general coverage.

On the basis of the National Board of Appeal's assessment, Minister of Social Affairs and the Elderly Astrid Krag asked the National Board of Appeal to initiate a general coverage of adoptions from Chile to Denmark.

bilagssamling.pdf

Bilagsoversigt

Bilag 1:

Ankestyrelsens retningslinjer for den fremtidige håndtering

af mistanke om ulovlige forhold i adoptionssager

Bilag 2:

Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children in Kenya (2014): A User-friendly Handbook

Department of Children's Services - Republic of Kenya 2019

This handbook is a key tool for supporting care reform in Kenya, promoting family-based alternative care for children, and moving away from institutional care.

This book is particularly written for formal and informal government practitioners: social workers, child protection volunteers, police, health workers, teachers, community health workers, child and youth workers, probation officers, and para-social workers, including:

Chiefs, Nyumba Kumi and Village elders, and Area Advisory Councils

Community-based organizations (CBOs), faith-based organizations (FBOs), and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in communities

Doctor one of two nabbed over alleged involvement in falsifying 200 birth records

PUTRAJAYA: A syndicate found to be responsible for falsifying at least 200 birth records in the country has been uncovered by the National Registration Department (NRD).

NRD director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said the department nabbed two men, both in their 60s, who are believed to be key members of the syndicate which has been operating since 2009.

“Our investigation and enforcement division caught a man, who is a doctor at a private clinic in Putrajaya, on Monday (April 19). The other suspect is believed to be an agent and he was caught at his home in Melaka on the same day.

“With the arrest of the two suspects, the NRD is able to partially cripple a syndicate involved in falsifying birth records which we have been tracing since 2009, ” Ruslin said at a press conference at the NRD headquarters here Tuesday (April 20).

For a fee of between RM8,000 and RM20,000, the syndicate will help parents to adopt a child but register them as their own biological children.

Life of an Indian Adoptee

My name is Winnie (Venkatamma). I was born in India. I was in an orphanage and was about 2 years old when I was adopted by a white Jewish family. Up until about the age of 6, I didn’t understand what my adoption meant. I would tell people that I’m adopted, not knowing there was a whole meaning behind it. I was 6 years old when I understood what my adoption meant. When it happened, everything changed. It was then I realized I had a birth mother who was Indian and had given birth to me, and SHE was my mother, not my adoptive mother.

Everything switched, and I started to become obsessed with wanting to know who she was. I would always ask questions, but my parents would be very quick to change the subject. I know I can speak for a lot of adoptees when I say the trauma of being rejected by our birth parents will never go away. If you’re an adoptive parent, your number one job is to make sure that we don’t feel that rejection again. If you can’t understand that, you have no business adopting. Because I constantly experienced this, it caused me to not want to be close to my adoptive parents. It’s to the point that I don’t care if my yearning for my birth mother hurts them. I helped fill a void for my parents…they’re fine. That’s what adoption is…filling a void for the adoptive parents. No one wants to ask if we’re ok.

I always struggled with identity issues, fitting in, depression, and suicidal thoughts. I definitely feel that if I wasn’t adopted my life would be different and probably better. Adoptees are taken from everything, their culture, family, birth mother, country, and people expect us to be ok. My number one trauma growing up, and still until this day, is not knowing who my birth mother is. It’s been frustrating to know how many birthdays, holidays, graduations, and achievements of mine that she’s missed. No one understands the trauma of not knowing who gave birth to you, other than adoptees. I’m currently in the process of trying to find her, but there’s a lot holding me back from doing it.

I’m learning more about my culture that has caused me to be scared to proceed with my search. Many women in my country are affected by the dowry system, which has caused so many girls to be unwanted, abandoned, aborted, and, worst, killed. I’m definitely afraid that my mother was a victim of this. It’s also the fear of what if she has no interest. I still plan to proceed because, in the end, I need closure answers. Our trauma is ignored because people have been stuck believing that we have a better life, and most of us don’t.

I also want to share my story in the hopes that it will save a life, let adoptees know that they are not alone, and that more adoptees will share their story.