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Supporting the Interests of Intercountry Adoptees beyond Childhood: Access to Adoption Information and Identity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 April 2012

Jessica Walton
Jessica Walton*
Affiliation:
Melbourne School of Population Health, University of Melbourne E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Drawing on select examples of adoption policy, this article considers key assumptions in discourse about ‘the best interests of the child’. The central argument is that the life-long impact of adoption needs to be recognised so that the long-term interests of adoptees are met, and not only when they are children. Based on doctoral research into the experiences of adult Korean adoptees in the United States and Australia, this article argues that currently post-adoption services are geared to adoptive parents and the adoptee-as-child and do not adequately address the needs of adoptees beyond childhood. Accurate and accessible information is important for adoptees as they try to understand their past and make sense of their identities.

Keywords

Intercountry adopteesbest interests of childadult adopteespost-adoption servicesidentityaccess to information
Type
Themed Section on Waiting for a Better World: Critical and Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Intercountry Adoption
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 11 , Issue 3 , July 2012 , pp. 443 - 454
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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