Crisis in intercountry adoption, crisis in adoptive families

Abstract

Based on a key note address given at the European Society on Family Relations conference in Madrid 2014, this article gives a general overview of some specific challenges adoptive families and adoption researchers face in recent years. Three crises in the area of adoption research are outlined: (1) the steady decline in the number of international adoptions; (2) the difficulties adoptees and their families face when the adoptee reaches adolescence; and (3) the problems associated with defining and investigating adoption breakdowns and the outcomes for these adoptees. While each of these issues pose a significant threat to the well-being of adoptees, fortunately the majority adoptees benefit from finding an adoptive family.