In order to ascertain the effects on subsequent life adjustment of having relinquished a child for adoption, a survey was conducted among 334 individuals, most of whom are members of Concerned United Birthparents. Findings indicate that having surrendered a child is perceived by these respondents as having a protracted negative influence on their lives in the areas of marriage, fertility, and parenting. Implications for adoption work and policy are discussed.

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Data on their children's adoptions and their own subsequent adjustment were provided by 125 birthfathers. Paternal age at the child's birth, involvement in the adoption process, and the major reason for adoption determined the birthfathers' current views of adoption. Search for the child was correlated with hopes of retrieval. Loss of the child remained an unresolved issue independent of other areas of functioning. Legal and procedural implications are discussed.

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This article looks at the reactions of adoptive parents to reunions between their adopted children and the children's birth parents. The focus is on how adoptive parents feel the reunion affects the family's integrity. Three types of family responses are identified: (1) closed, (2) divided, and (3) open. Acceptance of the differences between families created by adoption of children and those created by childbirth was a factor in the families' openness. Closed families saw no difference, and reunion suggested to the adults that they had failed as parents. Parents in open families understood the difference in families, saw the children as separate, and felt no threat to their competence as parents. Families' need for boundaries is examined, and the way the concept of family is constructed is discussed. Implications for the practice of adoption are considered.