Adoption of Children With Disabilities: A Study With Adoptive Parents

Abstract

Taking into consideration the supremacy of a child's profile often chosen by adoptive parents, this study aimed to understand the adoption of children with disabilities from the perspective of adoptive parents who have experienced this practice. The participants were eleven adoptive families of disabled children, all of whom had knowledge about the health conditions of the adoptive children at the time of adoption. The instruments used were a semi-structured interview and a sociodemographic questionnaire. A content analysis of the results enabled an understanding of the influence of conceptions about disabilities on the formal adoption process, the construction of parenting through the practices of care, and the influence of care specificities for a disabled child on adoption processes. Finally, it can be concluded that the children's disabled condition is a constituent element in the adoption of these children, affecting both the legal processes and the experience of the adoptive families.