Parent's Night

Background Information

In 1981, 1.3 million children (approximately 2 percent of the

population of U.S. children) were living with adoptive parents

who were not blood relatives. Of the adoptions that occur

annually, approximately 40 percent are older or special needs

adoptions, and 40 percent are foreign adoptions.

Adolescence can be a tough time for any teenager. In

moving from childhood to adulthood, all teens must assume

the sometimes arduous task of developing their self-concept,

or self-identity. The question of whether adoptees have more

difficulty developing positive identities during adolescence

is controversial. Some experts believe that self-discovery for

adopted teenagers may be complicated by a lack of information

about their birth families. As a result, these adoptees may

have difficulty integrating their disparate pasts into solid

identities; uncertainty about their origins may lead to confusion

and doubts about self-worth. However, others argue that the

number of adoptees with identity conflicts is small but appears

large because most research is based on adoptees already

in therapy.

At the very least, adoptees clearly have some additional

factors to consider in developing their self-concept. They

have more people to identify with and more people to separate

themselves from. In addition, they may have less information

about these people than other teenagers. Transracial or

transcultural adoptees may have an even harder time during

their adolescent years. Not only do these adoptees have two

sets of parents, but also dual ethnic backgrounds to consider

in developing their sense of self.

When adoptees reach adolescence they may experience

some feelings of rejection and confusion over being adopted.

In the majority of these cases, teens are interested in knowing

why they were placed up for adoption, but are not necessarily

interested in meeting their birth parents. Indeed, many

adoption experts believe that a reunion at this time may not

be advisable. For one thing, a face-to-face meeting with the

adoptee’s birth parents can be a highly emotional experience

and teenagers already have enough emotional ups and downs

to deal with. In addition, it may be confusing for teenagers

to establish a new relationship with a parent figure at a time

when they are in the process of breaking away from their

parents. However, many young people may choose to search

for their birth parents when they are older and more secure

with their own identities.