Adolescent adoption: Success despite challenges

Though in terms of adoption adolescents are considered a “special needs” group, targeted by recent federal legislation, adoption of adolescents is an area about which we have only limited understanding. This paper reports selected findings from an exploratory, qualitative study that elicited from 58 parents and 37 adolescents their views on successful adolescent adoptions. Specifically, it addresses how participants describe successful adoption, their challenges, and how they account for the success of their adoptions. Findings provide insights into participants' subjective meanings of success, going beyond the usual measures (primarily intactness). Using participants' words, the paper describes common themes related to successful adolescent adoption and also demonstrates some of the variation among participants. Parents and adolescents, both strikingly realistic in their appraisals of adoption, provided similar themes from unique perspectives. Theoretical considerations are discussed, and implications for practice are suggested.