What is the issue?
The adoption rate of children decline as they become older.
Why do we have this issue?
Adoptive parents fear that a child so far away from his early formative years is beyond help, that his personality and his values are permanently set.
No child can be protected from anxiety and trauma in his life. It is how he deals with what happens to him, what kind of support and help he gets that determines how his personality will be affected. Adopted children are well-integrated into their families and schools and show good psychological outcomes. There are few differences between children who have been adopted and their non-adopted peers.
Palacios, Jesus; Sanchez-Sandoval, Yolanda,
“Consequences of Adoption” 2005
Adoptive parents think that most of these kids will never recover from their abusive experiences. They will never attach to their new families and will grow up to be criminals.
While some children are indeed so damaged by long-term abuse or neglect that they will never overcome their legacy of pain and violence, most of these kids will attach to their new families and become productive adults.Alfred Kadushin who studied 95 families who had adopted children ages 5-12 found that, once adjustment was over, the age of the child when he entered his adoptive family did not make a difference or impede the successful outcome of the adoption.
Alfred Kadushin PhD, Professor,
University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Social Work
