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Journal of Adolescent Research
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Adolescent Search for Birthparents

Who Moves Forward?

Gretchen Miller Wrobel

Bethel College wrogre{at}bethel.edu

Harold D. Grotevant

University of Minnesota

Ruth G. McRoy

University of Texas at Austin

The decision to search for birthparents is one that all adopted persons consider. The focus of this study is to describe, for a group of adopted adolescents, who chooses to search and who does not and to explore how search behavior is related to the functioning of the adolescents’adoptive families and adolescents’psychological adjustment. Participants in the study included 93 adolescents whose contact with birthparents ranged from no contact or information about birthparents to those who had some information but no direct contact with birthparents. Adolescents who indicated no desire to search for their birthparents and those who indicated a desire to search or had searched were included in the study. Older adolescents who experienced some openness in their adoption, were the least satisfied with that adoptive openness, and were preoccupied with their adoptive status were most likely to search. Search behavior was not related to family functioning or adolescent problem behavior.

Key Words: adoption • search • openness • adolescent • family

Journal of Adolescent Research, Vol. 19, No. 1, 132-151 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0743558403258125
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Home page
 The Counseling PsychologistHome page
A. L. Baden and M. O'Leary Wiley
Counseling Adopted Persons in Adulthood: Integrating Practice and Research
The Counseling Psychologist, November 1, 2007; 35(6): 868 - 901.
[Abstract] [PDF]