Children and Youth Services Review 32 (2010) 604–610

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Children and Youth Services Review

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The transition to adoptive parenthood: A pilot study of parents adopting inOntario, Canada

Katherine McKay, Lori E. Ross ⁎Social Equity and Health Research Section, Centre for Addiction & Mental Health, 455 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2GS

⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 416 535 8501x7381E-mail addresses: kmckay@ryerson.ca (K. McKay), l.

0190-7409/$ – see front matter © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. Aldoi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2009.12.007

a b s t r a c t

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:Received 14 September 2009Received in revised form 7 December 2009Accepted 7 December 2009Available online 16 December 2009

Keywords:AdoptionTransition to parenthoodMental health

Research indicates that the transition to adoptive parenthood can be challenging for many adoptive parents,but that the provision of post-placement services may mitigate these challenges. However, little is knownabout the specific post-placement service needs of adoptive parents during this transition. This paperdescribes a pilot project from Ontario, Canada which sought to explore the support needs of adoptive parentsin the post-placement period. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine newly placedadoptive parents. Eight of the nine participants were married; two had adopted internationally, five hadadopted through the public system in Ontario and the remaining participant utilized private adoption.Through our analysis of the data, we identified two meta-themes: a) challenges and b) facilitatorsaccompanying the transition to adoptive parenthood. Grounded theory methodology was used to developthese themes into a conceptual framework describing the transition to adoptive parenthood. This frameworkposits that each parent negotiates a particular set of challenges and facilitators associated with their specificadoption experience. In future, this framework can become a tool to assist adoptive parents and practitionersto proactively identify and address potential challenges during the transition to parenthood.

; fax: +1 416 205 9522.ross@utoronto.ca (L.E. Ross).

l rights reserved.

© 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Research suggests that for many individuals, the transition toparenthood is accompanied by changes in mental health (Campbell &Cohn, 1991; Gair, 1999; Nomura et al., 2002; Senecky et al., 2009;Weissman et al., 2005), physical health (Gjerdingen & Center, 2003;Thompson, Roberts, Currie, & Ellwood, 2002) and intimate partnerrelationship dynamics (Ceballo, Lansford, Abbey, & Stewart, 2004; Cox,Paley, Burchinal, & Payne, 1999). It has been suggested that thesechallengesmay be enhanced or otherwise altered for adoptive parents,who often face unique experiences and obstacles as they transition toparenthood (Fontenot, 2007; Levy-Shiff, Zoran & Shulman, 1997). Forexample, in comparison to biological parents, adoptive parents aremore likely to have experiences with infertility (Cohen et al., 1993;Daniluk & Hurtig-Mitchell, 2003), more likely to parent a child of adifferent racial, ethnic or cultural identity (Westhues & Cohen, 1998)orwith emotional, behavioural and psychological difficulties (Glidden,2000; Glidden & Floyd, 1997; Lazarus, Evans, Glidden, & Flaherty,2002; Mainemer, Gilman, & Ames, 1998; McGlone, Santos, Kazama,Fong, & Mueller, 2002), and are on average, older first-time parents(Ceballo et al., 2004; Finley & Aguiar, 2002; Cohen et al., 1993; Dean,Dean, White, & Liu, 1995; Gjerdingen & Froberg, 1991).

The impact of these challenges on the transition to parenthood foradoptive parents can be understood through the lens of family stress

theory, as outlined by Patterson (1983) and Patterson and Garwick(1994). Through this lens, the adjustment period to parenthoodconstitutes an interactional process, wherein parents constantlynegotiate between demands (stressors, hassles, daily strains), andfacilitating factors (physical and emotional resources). When demandsand facilitating factors are balanced, the transition to parenthood ismore likely tobe experiencedpositively.However,when the two factorsbecomeunbalanced in the favour of demands, the adjustment is likely tobecome increasingly difficult. Although the demands and facilitatingfactors associated with the transition to parenthood likely differbetween adoptive and biological parents, to our knowledge, no studieshave applied family stress theory to examine the transition toparenthood for adoptive parents. This is an important research gap,since an understanding of the demands and facilitating factors specificto adoptive parents can inform the provision of support services to thispopulation. It has been postulated that post-placement support servicessuch as peer and/or group supports aligned with the needs of adoptiveparents in thepost-placement periodhave thepotential to increaseboththe ease and success of adoption for both parents and their children(Dhami, Mandel, & Sothman, 2007). In a study conducted with 500adoptive parents in Virginia, the most effective support services werethose whichwere aligned with the specific needs of the parents as theyadjusted to parenting, over time (Atkinson&Gonet, 2007). For example,in the early stages of the adoption process, participants identified peersupport groups as one of the most effective support services, since theyserved to decrease the isolation participants felt as they transitioned toparenthood. Later in the adoption process, individual and family

Table 1Selected demographic characteristics.

Number of participants n=9a

Relationship status Married 8 (88.9%)Single 1 (11.1%)

Sex Female 8 (88.9%)Male 1 (11.1%)

Ageb (mean, S.D.) 41.3 , 5.8Area of residence Greater Toronto Area 8 (88.9%)

Ottawa 1 (11.1%)Type of adoption utilized within the lastyear (for the 8 participating families)

Public 5 (62.5%)International 2 (25%)Private 1 (12.5%)

Ethnic/cultural identities of parents Caucasian 8 (88.9%)Asian-European 1 (11.1%)

Ethnic/cultural identities of childrenc

placed within the last yearCaucasian 6 (60%)Inuit 2 (20%)Chinese 1 (10%)Vietnamese 1 (10%)

Age of children placed within the last year Under 6 months 3 (30%)6 months to 23 months 4 (40%)2 years to 3 years 11 months 04 years to 8 years 11 months 3 (30%)

a 8 interviews were conducted, 7 with individuals and one with a married couple, fora total of 9 individual participants.

b One participant chose not to disclose her age.c Two of the families each adopted sibling pairs; one family adopted twins, and one

adopted siblings of differing ages.

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counseling became important for family cohesion as the adopted childaged.

Similarly, Dhami et al. (2007) evaluated the post-placementservices offered by the Adoption Support Program (ASP) at theQueen Alexandra Centre for Children's Health in British Columbia,Canada. They reported that 45% of the 43 participants accessingservices from ASP indicated they needed adoption support “soonafter” their child was placed in their home. In addition, 26% of parentsreported needing services when their child started school, 38% whentheir adopted child became a teenager and 17% needed supportserviceswhere their adopted child turned 19. This data would indicatethat the need for adoption support does not cease once, or shortlyafter the child is placed within the home. Approximately 43% of theparticipants sought help from both professional and personalsupports (i.e. family and friends). Unfortunately, this study did notreport information about the specific types of support servicesadoptive parents sought during the post-placement period.

Although existing research provides evidence that supportservices are desired by adoptive parents during the post-placementperiod, their specific support needs remain to be determined.Consequently, the authors initiated a pilot project to explore thetransitional needs of people who had recently become parentsthrough public adoption, private adoption or international adoption.

2. Methods

2.1. Participants

Upon receiving approval from the ethics review boards at theCentre for Addiction and Mental Health and our two child welfareagency partners, recruitment was conducted through two primarymethods. First, adoption practitioners employed by our two partneragencies were provided with study advertisements which theydispersed to families on their case loads. The advertisement instructedinterested families to contact the research office directly, in order toensure that adoption practitioners had no knowledge about whichfamilies participated. Second, study advertisements were distributedelectronically through the Adoption Council of Ontario (a non-profitorganization providing support and resources for individuals affectedby adoption); international adoption agencies located in Ontario; on-line forums for adoptive parents; and private practitioners registeredwith the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services.

Upon contacting the study office, interested participants werescreened for eligibility. For the purpose of this study, the “post-placement period” was defined as the first year after the child orchildren were placed in the home. As such, a participant was deemedeligible if s/he had legally adopted a child within the past year, or wascurrently in the adoption probation period (in Ontario, a minimumperiod of 6 months after the child is placed within the home, beforethe adoption is legally finalized). Additional inclusion criteriaincluded: sufficient fluency in English to participate in the interview;having adopted in Ontario through public, private or internationaladoption; and identifying Ontario as their primary place of residence.Of the 13 individuals who contacted our office, 12 were eligible toparticipate in the study, and one was ineligible due to the amount oftime which had elapsed since she had adopted. From the 12 eligibleparticipants, the authors utilized purposive sampling to identify eightfamilies which reflected the diversity in adoption experiences typicalof the Toronto area, including with respect to: type of adoptionutilized, age of child and number of children adopted. One marriedcouple opted to participate in a joint interview, resulting in a total ofnine individuals participating in eight interviews.

For the eight participating families, the most recently adoptedchild had been living in their home for between one and 10 months atthe time of the interview. Six of the families were adopting their firstchild, while the remaining two were adopting a subsequent child. Of

the eight participating families, six had one child placed in their home,while two families were in the process of adopting sibling pairs. Onesingle parent participated, and the remaining participants weremarried. All of the participants but one were female. Three of theinterviews took place with parents who had adopted children of adifferent racial and/or ethnic background from themselves. Twofamilies utilized international adoption, one utilized private adoptionand the remaining five families utilized public adoption. With theexception of one individual from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, theremaining eight participants residedwithin a 65 km radius of Toronto,Ontario, Canada. Further details on participant demographics areprovided in Table 1.

2.2. Data collection

In total, eight semi-structured interviews were conducted, all bythe first author. Five of the eight interviews were conducted inparticipants' homes. The other three interviews were conducted overthe telephone (two due to scheduling difficulties and one due todistance). The interviews took place over a period of 6 months, fromNovember 2008 to April 2009. Written informed consent wasobtained prior to each interview.

All interviews were guided by a semi-structured interview guide.However, this guidewasappliedwithflexibility toenableparticipants tofocus the discussion on the topics they felt weremost relevant to them.The interview guide covered four areas of questioning: introductoryquestions, questions about mental health, questions about physicalhealth and questions about relationship satisfaction. These three topicswere chosen for the interviews as research shows that they are oftenchallenges for biological parents transitioning to parenthood (Campbell& Cohn, 1991; Ceballo et al., 2004; Cox et al., 1999; Gjerdingen& Center,2003; Thompson et al., 2002). Thus,wewanted to explore howadoptiveparents experienced these challenges, if at all.

Introductory questions pertained to the overall journey to adoptiveparenthood and included questions such as, “Howdid you come to yourdecision to adopt?” and “How does the reality of adoptive parenthoodmatch and/or differ from your expectations?” Questions pertaining tomental health were not clinically focused, but rather examinedparticipants' own perceptions of their emotional well-being. Forexample, participants were asked: “Do you feel that any part of the

Fig. 1. Conceptual framework.

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adoptionprocesshas had an impact on your emotionalwell-being?” and“How have you felt emotionally (i.e. happy, sad, depressed, excited)since your child has come to live with you?” Similarly, questions askedabout participant physical health were general in nature and includedquestions such as, “Do you feel that your physical health has changedsince the child has come to live in your home? If yes, how?” Finally,questions pertaining to relationship satisfaction were asked to exploreany changes in intimate partner relationship dynamics since beingplaced with a child. Participants were asked questions such as: “Howwould you describe the relationship you havewith your partner? Is thisdifferent than your pre-parenting relationship?” For participants whowere not currently partnered the relationship questionswere framed inrelation to other people that the participant considered to be importantsocial supports. Consistent with grounded theory methodology, datacollection and data analysis occurred simultaneously. After two inter-views, thedatawere reviewed to identify salient issues (Baker,Wuest, &Noerager Stern, 1992), such as the use of informal supports, that werenot covered in the original interview guide. These issues were thenincorporated into the guide for subsequent interviews.

2.3. Data analysis

All interviews, including both telephone and in person interviews,were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Interview transcriptionswere verified for accuracy by the interviewer, and then analyzed withthe aid of the text management software QSR NVivo7. The analysiswas conducted using a grounded theory approach, as described byStrauss and Corbin (1998).

Specifically, all interview data were analyzed using an iterativeprocess wherein each transcript was read, coded, re-read and re-coded as necessary. Data were coded in three stages using open, axialand selective coding (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). During the process ofopen coding, the interview transcripts were read with the purpose ofidentifying recurring ideas or themes. For example, in the open codingprocess, themes such as “isolation” and “support from friends” werenoted in the data. Next, axial coding was undertaken, wherein theinterviews were re-read to characterize relationships between thethemes identified in the open coding process. Through axial coding,we identified two meta-themes which encompassed and organizedthe themes coded in the first stage of the analysis. Thesemeta-themeswere: a) challenges and b) facilitators accompanying the transition toadoptive parenthood. For example, participants' narratives aboutfeeling isolated were organized together with description of otherchallenges experienced during the transition to parenthood under the‘challenges’ meta-theme. Similarly, participants' narratives about theperceived benefits of support from friends were organized togetherwith description of other facilitators under the ‘facilitators’ meta-theme. Following this axial coding procedure, the text subsumedunder each meta-theme was reviewed, summarized and an analyticmemo written to capture the major issues relevant to each code.

Finally, the selective coding process was undertaken, during whichanalytic memos were read and discussed by both authors, in order tocollaboratively identify the core category upon which the groundedtheory is based. Based upon the relationships between our meta-themes, we identified the concept of “unique transition to parent-hood” as the core category which overlays the two meta-themes andtheir sub-themes. This core category thus forms the basis for ourconceptual framework, depicted in Fig. 1.

3. Results

Through our analysis of the data, we identified two meta-themes:a) challenges and b) facilitators accompanying the transition toadoptive parenthood. Each of thesemeta-themes contains subsequentclassification. Under the meta-theme of challenges, the discussion isclassified into three areas: isolation and fear, parenting related

obstacles and lack of support. Within the meta-theme of facilitators,results are also classified into three areas: overcoming challenges,positive parenting experiences and support. Thus, the “uniquetransition to parenthood” experienced by the parents in this studywas largely an outcome of the interaction between the facilitating andchallenging aspects of the transition to parenthood.

3.1. Challenges

Participants in this study described facing several challenges asthey transitioned to adoptive parenthood. Among these challengeswere: fear and anxiety associated with their new responsibilities asparents, lack of information about or experience with children, andisolation/lack of social support.

Fear and anxiety about parenting were common emotionalexperiences for participants in this study.Many participants describedtheir anxiety about whether they were performing even mundaneparenting tasks, such as changing a diaper, the “right” way.Participants perceived their anxiety about these issues to be greaterthan that experienced by biological parents, because they felt thatthey had been chosen to raise someone else's child, and as such shouldbe held to higher parenting standards. For example, Megan, themother of two children, one who is her biological child and one whowas adopted through the public system, noted:

It's kind of like there's more of a responsibility, do you know what Imean? Because you're taking care of somebody else's child. Eventhough she's my child she came from somebody else.

Consistent with other studies (Cohen et al., 1993; Daniluk &Hurtig-Mitchell, 2003), all eight participating families chose to adoptas a consequence of fertility problems. As a result, many participantsplaced additional pressure on themselves to be “perfect parents”,simply because they had waited so long, and had worked so hard, forthis opportunity. Not only was it stressful to attempt to be a “perfectparent”, but so was dealing with the reality that perfection cannot beachieved. As Emily, the mother of twins adopted through the privatesystem explains:

After having gone through what you've gone through to get yourfamily, you have a certain, I guess, “Leave it to Beaver” expectation.

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Participants reported experiencing significant anxiety related tothis inevitable failure to live up to unrealistic expectations about whatadoptive parenthood would be like.

Another fear, shared by several participants, was the possibilitythat their child could be ‘taken back’, i.e., the match dissolved by theiradoption agency. This fear was not entirely unfounded: multipleparticipants had experienced failed adoption matches in the past andthus, were apprehensive that the current placement could alsodissolve. However, even participants who had not experienced priorfailed matches reported feeling fearful that any “mistake”, no matterthemagnitude, could lead to removal of the child. This is illustrated byJeff, the father of one child adopted through the public system:

Once he fell down the stairs and I was like, you're 90% worried thathe has hurt himself and you're 10% worried that they're going to takehim back.

Jeff acknowledged that this fear may seem irrational to biologicalparents, since this type of accident is common for young children.However, because Jeff adopted his child through the public adoptionsystem, where there is a probationary period before the adoption isfinalized, he felt that he was less entitled tomake the samemistakes, orhave the same ‘accidents’, as biological parents. It is interesting to notethat this fear and anxiety was largely limited to those participants whoadopted through the public andprivate adoption systems, bothofwhichinvolve a mandatory probationary period. This theme was not aspronounced, and in some cases, absent, for participants who adoptedthrough the international system. Conceivably, this is because there islittle or no involvement of international adoption agencies after thechild leaves their birth country and placed within the parents' home.

Participants in this study also described stress associated with alack of needed knowledge about parenting and children, such asinformation about specific parenting techniques, how to discipline,and how to access academic and social programs for their children.This lack of knowledge and experience was attributed, at least in part,to the suddenness and unpredictability of their placement withchildren. Biological parenthood follows a predictable timeline fromconception to birth, then year by year as the child ages. In contrast, thetimeline for adoptive parenthood is unpredictable, as a child of anyage may be placed in the home with only a few weeks notice, or evenless:

I think there's got to be a difference when you get a child and you gothrough that whole pregnancy and they come out of you born… versus[clap] here's your 13month old, he'swithyou in threeweeks. (Ellen, themother of one child adopted through the public system).

Many participants described their perceptions of being throwninto parenthood without having adequate adjustment time. Forexample, depending on the age of their child(ren), parents describedstress associated with having to quickly learn how to navigate theschool system, or how to entertain a toddler. This was an issueparticularly for parents adopting through the public system, becausethey were more likely to adopt a child over 12 months of age. Tracy,the mother of siblings adopted through the public system found thisparticularly challenging. With limited previous experience withchildren, she was suddenly faced with the challenges associatedwith parenting two school-aged children:

People who have children [biologically] learn the school systemgradually, you learn the health care system gradually, you learnwhatever your kids may be involved in gradually. Whereas we didn'thave that luxury. Like, okay they're in school, boom. What do we do?

For many participants, these emotional and practical challengeswere exacerbated by a lack of social support during the post-

placement period. Parents described their feelings of isolation, andin particular their perceived lack of an appropriate peer group toprovide needed support and connection. Parents living outside ofdowntown Toronto reported a complete lack of adoptive parentingsupport groups, while those living downtown reported access to suchgroups, but only sporadically. For example, a group would be run onlyin months when a parent was willing and available to facilitate thegroup.

In the context of this lack of support from other new adoptiveparents, several participants felt that their older age contributed totheir sense of isolation. Few participants knew similarly aged parentswith young children:

Well, because I'm almost 43 now, there is no peer group for me thathas little children. And that's been my biggest issue. (Louisa, amother of one child adopted through the public system)

Adoptive parents are, on average, older first-time parents (Ceballoet al., 2004; Cohen et al., 1993; Dean et al., 1995; Gjerdingen &Froberg, 1991) and somany participants reported a lack of connectionwith “new” biological parents, who tended to be a decade or moreyounger than they were. In addition to this relative lack of peersupport, the older age of adoptive parents also had implications forfamily support. Being an older parent meant that one's parents werealso older, and in the case of some of our participants, were too elderlyto be a primary source of support:

One of the disadvantages of being an older parent is my parents areolder. And in fact that is way bigger than I had anticipated. So that'swhat I didn't expect is my parents can do a lot less and that has beenhard and disappointing. So I've lost a support system that isn't reallyreplaceable because your parents are your parents. (Stephanie, asingle mother with one child adopted through the internationalsystem).

Many participants reported that their parents and in-laws (if theywere partnered) were too elderly to care for young children,particularly those who may require extra time and attentionassociated with special needs. Alternatively, for some participants,parents and in-laws did not live in close proximity and thus were notaccessible for care. No participants mentioned turning to siblings orother extended family members for assistance.

In addition to age difference, participants' sense of connection tobiological parents was affected by their perception of a lack of sharedparenting experiences. For example, participants expressed unwill-ingness to access support through parenting groups, because theyanticipated that almost all of the other parents would have biologicalchildren. As Louisa, the mother of one child adopted through thepublic system, described:

Those [parenting] groups are out there… I know they have socialgroups for young babies and breast feeding groups…but theywouldn't be um suitable for me.

Only one participant in this study did not feel as though she lackedsupport during the post-placement period, since she reported that shefelt able to turn to peers parenting biological children for support.However, this participant's children were under 1 year of age at thetime of the interview and she was in her late twenties, emphasizingthe importance of both parental and child age in establishingnetworks of peer support for adoptive parents.

For some participants, the feeling that they ‘did not fit in’ withother parents in their communities was compounded by isolationfrom friends and family. For example, Louisa, the mother of one childadopted through the public system, felt as though not only could shenot relate to mothers of biological children, but she also felt a lack of

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connection to her group of previously close friends, and even herhusband. She attributed this to her friends having older children, andher husband working full-time. As a result, she felt that they wereunable to understand the specific challenges she was facing, such as intrying to find activities for her child and in establishing a routine:

Probably within a few months [of the placement] I began feelingmore isolated and less routine, then I was experiencing some anxietyand, I wouldn't say depression, but definitely there was some anxietyand feelings of isolation.

Lack of support from family and friends was also attributed to aperceived expectation on the part of these potential support peoplefor adoptive parents to be constantly happy in their parenting role. Assuch, many participants felt that they could not complain or turn tofamily or friends when they were experiencing difficulties. Forexample, Stephanie, a single mother of one child adopted throughthe international system,mentioned that close family and friendswhohad observed the challenges she had gone through to become amother seemed to expect that as a result, she would enjoy everymoment of parenting despite her challenges:

It's funny, [friends] have asked me, ‘aren't you just the happiest in theworld at being a mom?’ And I don't walk around, you know, skiphopping. I'm too tired, and it's hard.

Stephanie felt that because of the assumptions her friends andfamily were making, it was difficult for her to ask them for help andsupport. Barriers to seeking support from informal sources such asfriends and family, taken together with the lack of an appropriate peergroup of parents, resulted in a perceived lack of social support that themajority of participants in this study described as their mostsignificant challenge during the transition to parenthood.

3.2. Facilitators

Despite facing many challenges while transitioning to adoptiveparenthood, participants also reported various factors which facili-tated their transition. Specifically, participants in this study describedthe positive impact of: a) achieving their goal of becoming a parent; b)seeing their children achieve important developmental milestones;and c) accessing supports, and particularly from individuals withpersonal experience with the adoption system.

Although many participants discussed the stress they associatedwith their experiences of the adoption system, their journey toparenthood also contributed to enhancing their emotional well-beingduring the post-placement period. As previously mentioned, all of theparticipants in this study had come to adoption following experiencesof infertility. As such, becoming a parent represented overcoming aformidable challenge. Being able to fulfill the parenting rolecontributed positively to many participants' emotional well-being,both through the sense of accomplishment this achievementgarnered, and by creating a greater sense of purpose in their lives.For example, Rachel, a mother of two children, one adopted throughthe private system and one adopted through the public system,described the feelings of sadness and loss she experienced during heryears of struggle with infertility. However, since adopting, thesefeeling of loss had dissipated. When describing how her children haveenhanced her life, she told the following story about a conversationwith colleagues:

[My colleagues] said listening to me speak, they felt I loved my childmore than they loved theirs, or you know, than most people do. Andyou know, we think we do. We think we do, because it was a difficultroad and it all came true and we look at him everyday and think,‘you're a miracle’…how incredible that this whole story came to be.

In addition to positive emotions associated with achieving theirdesire to parent, participants also reported positive parenting experi-enceswhichmitigated the impact of parenting stress. Of particular valueto our participants was observing important developmentalmilestones.As Megan, the mother of two children one biological and one adoptedthrough the public system, described:

You can have a bad day and they're smiling and you get to see all themilestones and just the amount of computation that little brain hasto go through… you think, wow that's really impressive trying tolearn to walk, trying to learn to stomp feet.

Many participants similarly reported that the fulfillment they feltas a result of these parenting experiences often outweighed theimpact of the stressful experiences described above.

Although many participants faced challenges accessing supportduring the post-placement period, others conversely drew upon theirsources of support to facilitate the transition to parenthood. However,as a result of the lack of specific formal supports for adoptive parentsas described above, participants most often described turning toinformal supports. Particularly helpful was support from individualswho had previous experience with the adoption system. Althoughparticipants who had adopted through the public and private systemsfound it difficult to find other adoptive parents to network with, thetwo families who adopted internationally both reported utilizingother parents who had adopted internationally for support. Connect-ing with other adoptive parents seemed to be easier for those whoadopted internationally, because parents often traveled to their child'sbirth country in “travel groups” to pick up their children. Participantsreported maintaining connections with the people in travel groupsand/or people they hadmet adopting from the same birth country. ForAllison, a mother of two children both adopted through theinternational system, this source of support was important for her:

There's a couple of adoptive friends who really get it, too. I just calledone of them last Saturday morning, I called her and just cried and shejust understood exactly why, just needing a release.

Similarly, another participant reported that having a friend whowas adopted was a source of support. Being able to ask this friend forsuggestions about how to approach difficult issues, such as adoptiondisclosure, provided the participant with a sense of confidence in herapproaches to parenting:

I do have a friend that I mentioned earlier that is adopted; she's beenmy main support really. I've been calling her my “adoption angel”.She's been the one that's really guided us through this and, during thereally, really stressful times, like when the boys were about to beborn, she was completely there for me. (Emily, the mother of twinsadopted through the private system)

4. Discussion

The conceptual framework developed in this study describes thetransition to adoptive parenthood as arising from the interactionsbetween challenges and facilitators experienced throughout theadoption process. These challenges and facilitators vary betweenparents; what may be a facilitator for one parent (e.g., support fromfamily and friends) may be a challenge for another (e.g., lack ofsupport from family and friends). In our framework, the particularcombination of challenges and facilitators experienced by an adoptiveparent determines the ease with which that individual will accom-plish the transition to parenthood.

The study was conceptualized and executed in a manner con-sistent with grounded theory methodology, in which no a prioritheoretical framework is applied in the analysis and interpretation of

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data. However, the conceptual framework we developed from par-ticipants' accounts of their experiences during the post-placementperiod is strongly aligned with family stress theory. As in family stresstheory, the conceptual framework developed in this study presentsthe transition to adoptive parenthood as a period of constantnegotiation between challenges and facilitating factors. The alignmentbetween our conceptual framework and family stress theory suggeststhat this theoretical approach, widely applied in the study ofbiological parenting, may also be highly relevant to the study of thetransition to adoptive parenthood. Although family stress theory hasbeen applied to analyze the impact of family structure, communityacceptance and adoption (Wegar, 2000), to our knowledge, it hasnever been applied to the study of transitioning to adoptiveparenthood. As such this study creates a starting point for examina-tion into the potential that family stress theory holds for enhancingthe study of adoption practice.

In addition to the theoretical implications of our work, there aretwo main practice implications which evolve from our conceptualframework. First, this framework may serve as a useful tool to assistadoption practitioners in the identification and management offactors which may complicate the transition to parenthood for someadoptive parents. For example, in Ontario, it is mandatory thatfamilies adopting through the public system participate in apreparation course. Perhaps this framework, or a more generaldescription of family stress theory, could be presented to prospectiveadoptive parents taking this course, to assist them in identifying areaswhere they may encounter challenges. Although many of the factorsidentified in our frameworkmay appear to be common sense (e.g., thefinding that lack of social support is challenge faced bymany parents),many of the participants in this study indicated that they had notanticipated the challenges they encountered during the post-placement period. This suggests that preparing prospective adoptiveparents for the challenges they may encounter could help them to feelbetter prepared for the transition to adoptive parenting. Similarly,even once a placement has been made, this conceptual frameworkcould be used as a discussion tool with families who appear to begrappling with significant challenges during their post-placementtransition. Finally, our conceptual framework has the potential toassist adoption practitioners in prospectively identifying parents whomay be at a higher risk for challenges in the post-placement period.For example, if a single parent does not have extended family they canturn to for support, the adoption worker could work with him/her toidentify other potential sources of support as a preparatory measure.

Second, based upon the experiences of our participants, it appearsthat accessing support from other individuals with direct experienceof the adoption system is particularly helpful. As such, it may be usefulfor adoption agencies and service providers to implement voluntarypost-placement mentorship programs for prospective or recentadoptive parents. For example, such programs could match prospec-tive parents with an individual mentor who has been through theadoption process, in order to provide the adoption specific supportthat our participants found to be lacking in existing parenting supportservices.

Although informative, this study was a pilot project and thus itsmethodological limitations are notable. In particular, as a result offeasibility concerns associated with conducting a time-limited,student project, the number of interviews was a priori set at amaximum of eight. Although research conducted by Guest, Bunce andJohnson (2006) indicates that researchers can reliably identify meta-themes within the first six interviews, our sample was heterogenous,including parents adopting from various adoption systems. As a result,it is unlikely that we reached a point of theoretical saturation in ouranalysis, particularly with respect to the experiences of single parents,parents who have adopted through the private and internationalsystems, and parents who have adopted transracially. As such, we canmake little comment on potential inter-group differences, and our

framework lacks the more detailed context and nuance that wouldarise from analysis focused on identifying more specific experiences.Our model would benefit from expansion based upon future, largerstudies considering potential inter-group differences.

As described by Corbin and Strauss (1990), grounded theory isdeveloped through an iterative revision process with multiple samples.Itwould be useful to test the conceptual framework developed from thispilot study on larger, more diverse samples of adoptive parents so anyvariations can be identified. Despite the aforementioned limitations, inconjunction with family stress theory, a conceptual framework such asthe one described in this paper has the potential to assist adoptionpractitioners in preparing prospective parents for the transition period.This preparation in turn has the potential to ease the transition toadoptive parenthood for the entire family unit.

Acknowledgements

L. Ross is supported by a New Investigator Award from theCanadian Institutes for Health Research and the Ontario Women'sHealth Council, Award NOW-84656. In addition, support to CAMH forsalary of scientists and infrastructure has been provided by theOntario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. The views expressedhere do not necessarily reflect those of the Ministry of Health andLong Term Care.

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