Birth Mothers’ Experiences of Support Before, During, and After Adoptive Placement

Emily P. Lapidus; Ciara L. Watkins; Rachel H. Farr

doi:10.1037/ort0000701

Birth Mothers’ Experiences of Support Before, During, and After Adoptive Placement

Emily P. Lapidus
, Ciara L. Watkins
, Rachel H. Farr

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Birth mothers, or women who have relinquished parental rights of their child, are an understudied and stigmatized population. Prior literature has suggested that protective factors, such as supports (e.g., practical, emotional, peer, informational), are beneficial for birth mothers. This study qualitatively explored perceptions and experiences of support before, during, and after placement among 51 birth mothers whose children were adopted as infants via private adoption in the United States 8 months to 50 years (M = 15.39 years) from the time of data collection. Thematic analysis revealed six overarching themes: (a) impact of lived circumstances, (b) importance of early adequate support, (c) an emotionally complex process, (d) access to timely information, (e) feeling ready to utilize resources, and (f) coping with ongoing adjustment needs. Prevalence of Themes pre-, during, and postplacement were shared among participants. Time since placement and adoption openness (e.g., contact with adoptive families) were also important factors related to these themes. We discuss implications of these results for policy and practice related to birth mothers’ well-being and adjustment.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	543-556
Number of pages	14
Journal	American Journal of Orthopsychiatry
Volume	93
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000701
State	Published - 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Global Alliance for Behavioral Health and Social Justice

Funding

The authors wish to thank the Family Process Institute for providing funding (to Rachel H. Farr) to support this study. They also thank many members of our research team who contributed to this project in terms of coding, transcribing, and data collection—particularly Casey Vázquez. They especially want to extend our gratitude to the birth mothers and their families represented in this article for generously sharing their stories with us. The authors have no known conflicts of interests to disclose.

Funders
Family Process Institute Incorporated

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

adjustment
adoption
birth mothers
relinquishment
support

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Developmental and Educational Psychology
Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
Psychology (miscellaneous)
Psychiatry and Mental health

Access to Document

10.1037/ort0000701

Cite this

@article{6cc2d7a8a4ec4426aa3de792804270ef,

title = "Birth Mothers{\textquoteright} Experiences of Support Before, During, and After Adoptive Placement",

abstract = "Birth mothers, or women who have relinquished parental rights of their child, are an understudied and stigmatized population. Prior literature has suggested that protective factors, such as supports (e.g., practical, emotional, peer, informational), are beneficial for birth mothers. This study qualitatively explored perceptions and experiences of support before, during, and after placement among 51 birth mothers whose children were adopted as infants via private adoption in the United States 8 months to 50 years (M = 15.39 years) from the time of data collection. Thematic analysis revealed six overarching themes: (a) impact of lived circumstances, (b) importance of early adequate support, (c) an emotionally complex process, (d) access to timely information, (e) feeling ready to utilize resources, and (f) coping with ongoing adjustment needs. Prevalence of Themes pre-, during, and postplacement were shared among participants. Time since placement and adoption openness (e.g., contact with adoptive families) were also important factors related to these themes. We discuss implications of these results for policy and practice related to birth mothers{\textquoteright} well-being and adjustment.",

keywords = "adjustment, adoption, birth mothers, relinquishment, support",

author = "Lapidus, \{Emily P.\} and Watkins, \{Ciara L.\} and Farr, \{Rachel H.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 Global Alliance for Behavioral Health and Social Justice",

year = "2023",

doi = "10.1037/ort0000701",

language = "English",

volume = "93",

pages = "543--556",

number = "6",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Birth Mothers’ Experiences of Support Before, During, and After Adoptive Placement

AU - Lapidus, Emily P.

AU - Watkins, Ciara L.

AU - Farr, Rachel H.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Birth mothers, or women who have relinquished parental rights of their child, are an understudied and stigmatized population. Prior literature has suggested that protective factors, such as supports (e.g., practical, emotional, peer, informational), are beneficial for birth mothers. This study qualitatively explored perceptions and experiences of support before, during, and after placement among 51 birth mothers whose children were adopted as infants via private adoption in the United States 8 months to 50 years (M = 15.39 years) from the time of data collection. Thematic analysis revealed six overarching themes: (a) impact of lived circumstances, (b) importance of early adequate support, (c) an emotionally complex process, (d) access to timely information, (e) feeling ready to utilize resources, and (f) coping with ongoing adjustment needs. Prevalence of Themes pre-, during, and postplacement were shared among participants. Time since placement and adoption openness (e.g., contact with adoptive families) were also important factors related to these themes. We discuss implications of these results for policy and practice related to birth mothers’ well-being and adjustment.

AB - Birth mothers, or women who have relinquished parental rights of their child, are an understudied and stigmatized population. Prior literature has suggested that protective factors, such as supports (e.g., practical, emotional, peer, informational), are beneficial for birth mothers. This study qualitatively explored perceptions and experiences of support before, during, and after placement among 51 birth mothers whose children were adopted as infants via private adoption in the United States 8 months to 50 years (M = 15.39 years) from the time of data collection. Thematic analysis revealed six overarching themes: (a) impact of lived circumstances, (b) importance of early adequate support, (c) an emotionally complex process, (d) access to timely information, (e) feeling ready to utilize resources, and (f) coping with ongoing adjustment needs. Prevalence of Themes pre-, during, and postplacement were shared among participants. Time since placement and adoption openness (e.g., contact with adoptive families) were also important factors related to these themes. We discuss implications of these results for policy and practice related to birth mothers’ well-being and adjustment.

KW - adjustment

KW - adoption

KW - birth mothers

KW - relinquishment

KW - support

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85178496114

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85178496114#tab=citedBy

U2 - 10.1037/ort0000701

DO - 10.1037/ort0000701

M3 - Article

C2 - 37676172

AN - SCOPUS:85178496114

SN - 0002-9432

VL - 93

SP - 543

EP - 556

JO - American Journal of Orthopsychiatry

JF - American Journal of Orthopsychiatry

IS - 6

ER -

Birth Mothers’ Experiences of Support Before, During, and After Adoptive Placement

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this