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 | |
| 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 | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Family Process Institute Incorporated |
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
