Adoption and Family Ties Explained by Quebec Children
For the adopted child, the negotiation of their identity and belonging to the adoptive family depends on the story told about the circumstances of their removal from the birth family and arrival in the adoptive family. Inspired by the child-centered approach, this article presents the perspective of Quebec school-aged children, adopted from care, on their representations of adoption and family, in relation to those of the other members of their adoptive family. Initially, semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven parents from five families. Five years later, their children, then of school age, were interviewed. The comparison of the accounts revealed certain constants in the normalization of the child's withdrawal from their birth family and the distancing of the birth parents with whom the child has no relationship. Also, a caring discourse values the different caregivers in the child's pre-adoptive history. The results highlight the influence of the adoptive parents' discourse and level of exploration regarding origins on the child's understanding.