Complex Adoption and Assisted Reproductive Technology

This volume addresses the special set of issues that arise in therapeutic work with parents and children in families formed through complex adoption and assisted reproductive technology (ART). The authors describe the wide range of new options that are available to couples and single adults, including those who face medical or social barriers to parenthood. In the area of adoption, thousands of children in foster and institutional care in the United States and abroad are awaiting permanent placements. Open adoption, kinship adoption, and transracial adoption are transforming family life, as is the use of ART, which raises many issues of family identity and family process. Key themes explored include the significance of early experience, the capacity to recover from exposure to trauma, the impact of heredity and the difference that environment can make, and the centrality of primary attachment relationships. Also discussed are issues affecting lesbian and gay families and other families of difference. Combining in-depth case material with a vast body of developmental, clinical, and ecological research, the book provides an integrative framework for clinical practice. It also spells out new ideas and future directions for training and research.