WHY DO WE ADOPT
Page Four
LEGAL STUFF Written text Copyright 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001 Jean Marie Wilson Cannot be reprinted without permission. Must be referenced in all documents
Summary (HOME)
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
References
A twenty-five item questionnaire was developed, based on the most frequently mentioned reasons for adopting found in the research just described. This questionnaire was then given to five adoptive parents. One parent read the instrument and said it was very good. A second parent completed the survey, and only made two grammatical corrections, which I corrected for the final draft. A third parent made suggestions for changing the questions and the question order. However, I felt the corrections changed the meaning of the items, especially because some of the wording came directly from the research. Changing the order, to put related questions together (as she suggested), might have biased the questionnaire. The order of items was random. The fourth parent simply completed the questionnaire. The fifth parent said the reasons were shallow, and she could not believe they were the best research had to offer. However, she did not offer other reasons. She did, however, pass the questionnaire on to someone else to complete.
As previously mentioned, a twenty-five item questionnaire was developed, based on the most frequently mentioned reasons found for adoption in the literature, including popular magazines, adoption specific materials, and journals. The reasons used were all mentioned at least twice. One item was, however, chosen simply to see if any of these adoptive parents considered it: wanting children because their friends or family had children. There were also demographic questions at the end of the instrument. These were labeled "Optional."
It was decided to only have four possible responses to each item. This was done to avoid "middle" answers. The four possible responses were: not a consideration; slight consideration; medium consideration; and central consideration.
This was a survey of convenience. Sixteen questionnaires were distributed at an adoptive parents support group on November 19, 1997. Two of these sixteen were given to staff, who were also adoptive parents.
Fifty-one surveys were mailed to the editor of an adoption newsletter, on November 22, 1997. She, in turn, mailed them to all the adoptive parents on her subscription list. (She also has subscribers who have not yet adopted. They did not receive a questionnaire.) On December 2, 1997, five were mailed to a friend who has relatives that are adoptive parents. She forwarded three of them. Four were also given to another adoptive parent on November 30, 1997. She kept one, and passed on the other three. As previously mentioned, one was also passed to another adoptive parent by a member of the pilot study. In total, 75 questionnaires were given to adoptive parents.
Fifty-eight questionnaires were returned. This is a 77.33% response rate. Demographic information was given by fifty-six of the respondents. Of them, four were male (7%) and 52 were female (93%). Fourteen (25%) were between the ages of 25 and 35 years old; 30 (54%) were between 36 and 45 years old; and the remaining 12 (21%) were over age 45. Envelopes were postmarked from 26 states: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.
These 56 respondents had 126 children: 103 (82%) through adoption and 19 (18%) through birth. This is an average of 2.25 children per respondent. However, one (2%) respondent had nine children; one (2%) had six children; two (4%) had five children; and three (5%) had four children. Nine (16%) respondents had three children, while 22 (39%) had two children, and 18 (32%) had one child. Of all the children, sixty (48%) were male and 66 (52%) were female. Thirteen (23%) of the respondents had both birth and adopted children. The adopted children were 46% (47) male and 52% (56) female. Twenty-seven children were adopted internationally, and twenty-nine (31%) children were identified by their parent as special needs.
The overall average age of the children was 6.3 years (SD=5.17years). The average age of all the adopted children was 5.02 years (SD=3.17 years). For the adopted children average age at placement was 12.81 months (SD=24 months), with males being placed at a mean age of 10.66 months (SD=18 months) and females being placed at 12.05 months (SD=20.69 months). However, the median age at placement was seven weeks.
When the percentage of response for each reason was calculated, no adjustment was made for skipped reasons or reasons marked "N/A." Instead the number of responses for each category (No Consideration, Slight Consideration, Medium Consideration, Central Consideration) was divided by the full number of respondents (i.e. 58). Then the percentage of skipped or "N/A" responses was also figured for those reasons.
The reasons that received at least a 25% response of "Central Consideration" were:
I love children (81.03%);
I wanted to share my life with a child (79.31%);
I just wanted a child (74.14%);
I/We were unable to have a child by birth (62.07%);
I felt empty inside without a child (53.45%);
I wanted to give a child a permanent home (48.28%);
I just wanted to be someone's parent (48.28%);
I just knew there was a child waiting for me to adopt him/her (37.93%);
I always knew I would adopt a child someday (34.48%);
I knew someone who was adopted, or someone who was an adoptive parent (27.59%);
My friends and family had children, and I wanted children, too (27.57%).
The reasons that received at least a 25% response for "No Consideration" were:
I had a foster child, and later adopted him/her (91.38%);
I wanted to improve my marriage (91.38%);
The doctor told me it would endanger my (or my wife's ) health if I (she) got
pregnant (87.93%);
I had a child who passed away (84.48%);
I chose international adoption, because I wanted a young child, and I was told I was too old to adopt a young child in the United States (81.03%);
I adopted a child with special needs, because I knew someone with special needs, and I knew I could handle whatever came up (81.03%);
I felt I could help a special needs child learn to function better (77.59%);
I wanted a boy/girl (72.41%);
I wanted a baby and decided to adopt internationally, because there aren't many healthy babies available for adoption in the United States (70.69%);
I wanted a sibling for my child (60.34%);
I wanted to give a child experiences I did not have as a child (55.17%);
My religion teaches me to help others, and adoption is one way to do that (50.00%);
I always knew I would adopt a child someday (43.10%);
My friends and family had children, and I wanted children, too (36.21%);
I knew someone who was adopted or someone who was an adoptive parent (31.03%);
I knew children were hurt by not having families, and I wanted to help (31.03%);
I just knew there was a child waiting for me to adopt him/her (27.59%).
Although "N/A" and skipping the question were not given as options, they were given as responses on thirteen of the reasons. This happened once for the following reasons:
I was aware there were children who needed homes;
I wanted to give a child a permanent home;
I just wanted a child;
I felt empty inside without a child;
I just wanted to be someone's parent;
I wanted a sibling for my child;
I wanted to share my life with a child.
Two respondents either skipped or marked as "N/A" one reason: I felt I could help a special needs child learn to function better. This occurred three times for the following:
I had a foster child, and later adopted him/her;
I chose international adoption, because I wanted a young child and I was told I was too old to adopt a young child in the United States;
I adopted a child with special needs, because I knew someone with special needs, and I knew I could handle whatever came up;
I had a child who passed away.
The reason, I wanted a baby and decided to adopt internationally, because there aren't many healthy babies available for adoption in the United States, was skipped or marked "N/A" four times.
The questions were then divided into two categories: Emotional and Factual reasons for adopting. The number one emotional reason given for adopting was "I love children," with 81% of the respondents noting it was a central consideration in their decision to adopt. No respondents marked this one "Not a Consideration."
"I wanted to share my life with a child" also was at least a slight consideration in the respondents' decisions to adopt, with 79% of them choosing "Central Consideration." "I just wanted a child" had a 74% response rate of "Central Consideration," with only 7% of the respondents stating they did not consider this as a reason to adopt.
The other emotional reasons and their rate of response for "Central Consideration" were:
"I felt empty inside without a child" (53%);
"I just wanted to be someone's parent" (48%);
"I wanted to give a child a permanent home" (48%);
"I just knew there was a child waiting for me to adopt him/her" (37%); and
"I always knew I would adopt a child someday" (34%).
Questions
16- I love children.
24- I wanted to share my life with a child.
4- I just wanted a child.
6- I felt empty inside without a child.
8.I just wanted to be someone’s parent.
3.I just wanted to give a child a permanent home.
21- I just knew there was a child waiting for me to adopt him/her.
5-I always knew I would adopt a child someday.
There were also emotional reasons that were not central considerations. "I wanted to improve my marriage" was not a consideration for 91% of these adoptive parents. "I wanted a boy/girl" was not a consideration for 72% of the respondents. The other emotional reasons that had a higher rate of "Not a Consideration" responses were:
"I wanted a sibling for my child (60%);
"I wanted to give a child experiences I did not have as a child" (55%);
"My religion teaches me to help others, and adoption is one way to do that" (50%);
"My friends and family had children, and I wanted children, too" (36%) (although this reason was also a central consideration for 27% of the respondents); and
"I knew children were hurt by not having families, and I wanted to help" (31%).
15- I wanted to improve my marriage.
13- I wanted a boy/girl.
18- I wanted a sibling for my child.
19-I wanted to give a child experiences I did not have as a child.
14- My religion teaches me to help others, and adoption is one way to do that.
22- My friends and family had children, and I wanted children, too.
12- I knew children were hurt by not having families, and I wanted to help.
The number one factual reason for adopting was "I/We were unable to have a child by birth"- a reason that was marked "Central Consideration" by 62% of the respondents (only 18% of the respondents did not consider this as a factor in their decision to adopt). "I wanted to give a child a permanent home" was a central consideration for 48% of the adoptive parents. "I knew someone who was adopted or someone who was an adoptive parent" was a central consideration for 21%.
"I was aware there were children who needed homes" was a central consideration for 22%, but was a medium consideration for 39%, and a slight consideration for 25%. Only 10% marked this "Not a Consideration."
Ninety-one percent said that "I had a foster child and later adopted him/her" was not a factor in their adoption. Only three percent chose "Central Consideration as their response to this item. Five percent either marked it "N/A" or skipped it altogether. This is not surprising given the mean age of placement of the adopted children was 12.8 months, with a median age of just seven weeks.
"The doctor told me it would endanger my (or my wife's) health if I (she) got pregnant" was not a consideration for 81%. This also is not surprising, since 62% said that infertility was a central consideration when they adopted. In addition, 22% of the respondents had birth children.
Eighty-four percent did not adopt because they had a child who passed away. Of those who did consider this a reason for adopting, several mentioned miscarriage or a regretted abortion as the death of a child.
There were 17 respondents who had at least one child adopted internationally. However, 81% said "I chose international adoption because I wanted a young child, and I was told I was too old to adopt a young child in the United States" was not part of their decision to adopt. Seventy percent also indicated that "I wanted a baby and decided to adopt internationally, because there aren't many healthy babies available for adoption in the United States" was not a consideration.
"I adopted a child with special needs, because I knew someone with special needs, and I knew I could handle whatever came up" was not a consideration for 81%, as was "I felt I could help a special needs child learn to function better" for 77%. The rate of special needs adopters was 25.8% (fifteen families). It may be, given that most of the children were young when placed, that the special need was not discovered until the child got older, since "special needs" can include learning disabilities.
"I knew someone who was adopted or someone who was an adoptive parent" was not a consideration for 31% of the respondents.
Questions
10- I had a foster child, and later adopted him/her.
23- The doctor told me it would endanger my (or my wife’s) health if I (she) got pregnant.
25- I had a child who passed away.
11- I chose international adoption, because I wanted a young child, and I was told I was too old to adopt a young child in the United States.
17- I adopted a child with special needs, because I knew someone with special needs, and I knew I could handle whatever came up.
20-I felt I could help a special needs child learn to function better.
7- I wanted a baby and decided to adopt internationally, because there aren’t many healthy babies available for adoption in the United States.
2- I knew someone who was adopted or someone who was an adoptive parent.
There were some differences in the reasons domestic and international adopters gave for adopting. Out of 58 respondents, four did not answer the question asking if theirs was an international or a domestic adoption. There were 17 respondents who had international adoptions. Of them, three also had domestic adoptions. Therefore, they were included in the analysis of responses by domestic adopters, making the total 40 families with domestic adoptions. The categories, Slight, Medium, and Central Consideration, were collapsed into Consideration and Not a Consideration.
The biggest difference was on "I wanted a baby and decided to adopt internationally, because there aren't many healthy babies available for adoption in the United States." Fifty-eight percent of international adopters gave this at least a slight consideration, while only ten percent of those who adopted domestically did. This rate of ten percent is most likely due to the fact that some families had both international and domestic adoptions.
Ninety percent of domestic adopters said infertility was a consideration, and 64.7% of international adopters took infertility into consideration when they adopted. "I just knew there was a child waiting for me to adopt him/her" was a consideration for 82.5% of domestic adopters, but only 47% of international adopters. Wanting children because their friends and family had children was a consideration for 67.5% of domestic adopters, and 47% of international adopters. Only 27.5% of domestic adopters adopted because they wanted a child of a specific sex, yet 47% of international adopters gave that at least a slight consideration. Not surprisingly, adopting internationally to get a young child was a consideration for 47% of international adopters, but only 27% of domestic adopters.
"I always knew I would adopt a child some day" was a consideration for 65% of domestic adopters, and 47% of international adopters. Wanting a sibling for a child already in the home was a consideration for 35% of domestic adopters, and 52% of international adopters. Other differences in domestic and international adopters considerations in their decisions to adopt were (percentages for international adopters are italicized):
"I knew children were hurt by not having families and I wanted to help" (57.5% v. 70%);
"I knew someone who was adopted or someone who was an adoptive parent" (70% v. 58.8%); and
"My religion teaches me to help others, and adoption is one way to do that" (42.5% v. 52.9%).
Questions
7- I wanted a baby and decided to adopt internationally, because there aren’t many healthy babies available for adoption in the United States.
9-I/We were unable to have a child by birth.
21- I just knew there was a child waiting for me to adopt him/her.
22- My friends and family had children, and I wanted children, too.
13- I wanted a boy/girl.
11- I chose international adoption, because I wanted a young child, and I was told I was too old to adopt a young child in the United States.
5-I always knew I would adopt a child someday.
18-I wanted a sibling for my child.
12-I knew children were hurt by not having families and I wanted to help.
2- I knew someone who was adopted or an adoptive parent.
14-My religion teaches me to help others, and adoption is one way to do that.
