Recruitment News - September/October, 1996

Several years ago the Jackson family adopted a five year old son. At the time of placement the adoption worker indicated that the child had suffered some early childhood abuse but the extent of the abuse and its possible effects on the child's future behavior was not known.

Almost immediately, the child's behavior was troubling. He would isolate himself from caregivers and peers, was physically aggressive towards others, and was frequently dismissed from school because of his behavior. Despite intensive therapy his behaviors escalated to such a point that they considered disrupting the adoption.

Gradually the Jackson's learned that their son had experienced constant and severe abuse from birth. He had lost the ability to trust caretakers or to care about the feelings of others. The agency also had neglected to disclose that their son had lived in nine foster homes before his adoption; each one disrupting because of his severe behavior problems.

Eventually high medical bills and extreme emotional duress led the Jackson's to sue the adoption agency on the grounds that they had withheld background information about their son because revealing it might have prevented him from being adopted.

Although the Jackson's is an extreme case, lawsuits by families claiming wrongful adoptions have been successfully argued in court. Many of these cases could have been avoided had the adoptive parents been properly prepared by being given appropriate background information and being prepared for what to expect. In fact, many adoption professionals think that full disclosure of non-identifying information should be required for all adoptions. This type of disclosure gives a family a clear understanding of what the child's past experiences were and how they may effect that child's future behavior. It allows parents to better care for their child.

A number of different factors may influence the availability and presentation of background information to prospective families. These include agency policy, the worker's personal bias towards the case, the accuracy and amount of information gathered about the child's past prior to becoming available for adoption, and the worker's ability to synthesize information and present it prospective adoptive families in a way that will help them understand what implications a child's past may have on his/her future.

Successful wrongful adoptions lawsuits have fallen into one of three categories:

Intentional Misrepresentation: Deliberate misrepresentation of a child's health or background.

Deliberate Concealment: Intentional failure to disclose a known material fact about the child's health or background.

Negligent Disclosure of Information Regarding the Child's History or Prognosis: Voluntary provision of inaccurate information about a child's health or background.

In Michigan, the Family Independence Agency's adoption policy follows recent legislation which specifically outlines the sharing of information with the selected adoptive family. It states that before an adoptive placement, the worker serving the family must provide them with information, that is reasonably obtainable, from the parents, relatives, guardian of the child, any person who had physical custody of the child for 30 days or longer, or any person who has provided heath, psychological, educational or other services to the child. The information required includes:

Date, time and place of birth.
Health and genetic history of the child, including prenatal information, health of child at birth, any subsequent medical, psychological, dental, or psychiatric examinations and diagnosis, nature of abuse or neglect that brought the child into care, and records of any health care provided to the child while in care.
Health and genetic history of the child's biological family, including any hereditary or psychological conditions.
Description of the child's family of origin, including child's given first name at birth; sex of any known siblings at time of adoption; school records; race and ethnic background of birth family; non-identifying information about the child's birth parents.
Child's past and existing relationship with any relative, foster family, other individual or facility with whom the child has lived or visited on a regular basis.
Levels of educational, occupational, professional, athletic or artistic achievement of child's birth family. Hobbies or special interest of the birth family.
Circumstances of any judicial order terminating parental rights of biological parents.
Length of time between termination of parental rights and adoptive placement.
Any information necessary to documenting the child's eligibility for state or federal benefits.

Disclosure of background information about a child is an important part of preparing a recruited adoptive family. However, workers frequently forget the importance of sharing information and preparing the foster family or relative of a child when they are going to adopt.

The sharing of information can begin as soon as a family has been determined to be a serious match for a child. So as not to overwhelm a family, background information should be shared in increments. Both positive and negative information about the child should be presented to a family before the first meeting with the child. Additionally, families can prepare themselves by asking their worker for the following information about the child:

Why did this child enter foster care?
With whom has this child lived? If a child has lived in several out of home placements, why was this child moved?
What is known about the prenatal and birth history of the child?
What is this child's complete medical history, including genetic background?
What attachments has this child formed during his or her lifetime?
What adjustment problems has the child had in the past?
What are the positive characteristics of the child? How does the child react to stress or change?

There are several methods agencies may use to present information to a family that can safeguard against confusion for all parties involved. They include having both the family and worker take notes during disclosure sessions and discussing what they feel are the important points (copies of both notes should be give to the family and kept in the child's file at the agency); tape recording meetings with families; or providing the family with case documents with identifying information removed.

Adoption is a lifelong process. Properly preparing families by providing them with background information about a child's past experiences and how they may effect the future behavior of a child are important first steps in any good adoption. Revisiting these issues during supervision and even after the adoption is completed is also important in keeping families together.

It's All in the Name

by Kirsta A. Grapentine (aka Christa Grapenstein)

In The Adoption Resource Book, the author relates a short vignette about a child who was adopted from India. The child came to America with two pennies from his homeland, the shoes on his feet, and his name. The coins were eventually lost, the shoes outgrown. All the child had left from his past was his name.

The issue...

For many children coming into the child welfare system their birth names are all they have to connect them to their pasts. These pasts have all too often been filled with abuse, neglect and loss. It is often tempting for an adoptive family to want to shelter the child from these negative experiences and make them their own by changing the child's name.

Research has shown that a child can recognize and respond to his or her (first) name by age six months. Most child development experts and psychologists discourage families from changing a child's name after 12 months because most children have at that point developed a sense of self-identity which is tied to their name. Experts note that it is particularly hard for preschool-age children to adjust to a name change. During this stage of development, self identification is so closely linked to the child's name that changing that name often gives the child the notion that he/she is an entirely different person. It makes it more difficult for the child to integrate past experiences into the present.

When it may be appropriate...

There may be times when it is appropriate to change a child's first name. Obviously a child with the legal name of "Baby Boy" needs a more personal name. Other situations may include a child being adopted into a home where there is already a child with the same name; when a child's first name, coupled with the adoptive parents' last name, leaves a child open to embarrassment or ridicule; or when a child has a name that may be associated with negative connotations. In some instances, a child may wish to have their name changed because they view it as an easy way to break from the past. In these cases, time should be taken to help the child understand that a name change will not make the past disappear, and that the child is not a "new person" because he/she has been adopted. Whenever a child's first name is changed, even for an infant, it is important for the adoptive family to record and keep the original name for the child's future reference.

The transition

When a name is to be changed, there are a number of ways to help make the transition easier. Informing the foster family or agency of the new name, and asking them to use that name with the child, will help the child get used to the name in familiar situations. Choosing a name that sounds similar to the child's original name may also make the change easier.

It is not uncommon for adopted children to have more than one middle name. Incorporating the child's original first name into his or her full name still allows the child to maintain part of their past identity. This is especially true of foreign-born children whose name may have been changed because it is hard to pronounce. In some cases, calling a child by a nickname may be easier than a legal name change. It can be something that the adoptive family has given that child, and the family and child can use it as that child feels comfortable with it.

Whenever a child's name is to be changed the child should be consulted, especially if they are older, and should be helped to understand why the change is being made.

Last names

Children also need to be prepared for the change of their last name. Although a change in the surname can also be threatening to children, when they are helped to understand that sharing the same last name is one way of letting people know that they are part of the same family, the child usually feels more comfortable. Older children, especially teenagers, should be consulted as to whether or not they would like to take the adoptive family's name. Again, in some cases, incorporating a child's original last name into their middle name or hyphenating their last name, may be a healthy way of blending the child's past into his or her present.

Most adoption experts agree that if a last name is going to be changed, the child's new surname should be used when the child is placed in a home for adoption. However, because the child's name is not legally changed until finalization, schools and other institutions may be reluctant to use the new surname on official documents. Children should be prepared to deal with this type of confusion.

Although changing an adoptive child's name is part of the claiming process by a family, special attention should be given to the motivations for changing a child's first name. A name change should meet the standards of the child, not solely that of the family's.

Helpful Resources

Helping Children When They Must Move, Vera Fahlberg

The Adoption Resource Book, Lois Gilman

Making Sense of Adoption, Lois Melina

Raising Adopted Children, Lois Melina

A Child's Journey Through Placement, Vera Fahlberg