Social Sciences

This book explores what it is like to be involved incontemporary open adoption, characterised by varying forms of contact withbirth relatives, from an adoptive parent point of view.

The author’s fine-grained interpretative phenomenologicalanalysis of adopters’ accounts reveals the complexity of kinship for thosewhose most significant relationships are made, unmade and permanently alteredthrough adoption. MacDonald distinctively connects adoption to widersociological theories of relatedness and personal life, and focuses on domesticnon-kin adoption of children from state care, including compulsory adoption. Thebook also addresses current child welfare concerns, and suggestions are madefor adoption practice. The book will be of interest to scholars and studentswith an interest in adoption, social work, child welfare, foster care, family andsociology.