Research offers fresh insights into how adult adoptees experience parenthood

For many people, becoming a parent is a major milestone that fundamentally reshapes identity. Parenthood can bring profound belonging and love, but it is also challenging and, for adoptees, can surface questions about identity, family ties and adoption itself. My recently published research explored the experiences of four adults adopted in England before 1989 who later became biological parents. The date is significant because the Children Act 1989 centred the welfare of the child in adoption, increasing rights to birth family contact and placing greater emphasis on pre- and post-adoption support. Two men and two women were interviewed, discussing parenthood from pregnancy through to the present day. Their children were predominantly teenagers or young adults, allowing reflection over many years of parenting. While every adoption story is unique, there was commonality in their experiences.   Parenthood as an awakening Parenthood reshaped how adoptees understood their adoption...