Discursive Constructions of the Meaning of “Family” in Online Narratives of Foster Adoptive Parents

Maintaining Open Adoption Relationships: Practitioner Insights on Adoptive Parents’ Regulation of Adoption Kinship Networks

“…Saturation was reached by the sixth interview; however, all responses were analyzed for validation purposes. In concert with other rigorous qualitative communication studies Suter et al, 2014), we employed four interrelated verification procedures: (a) investigator triangulation, (b) negative case analysis, (c) audit trail, and (d) exemplar identification (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Specifically, we engaged in investigator triangulation via peer debriefing, a type of investigation where both authors independently conduct analysis and confer to work through the findings.…”

“…To date, however, the bulk of open adoption research has focused on the structure of open adoption configurations (e.g., Grotevant et al, 2008) as well as the outcomes of birth-parent contact (e.g., Grotevant, Rueter, Von Korff, & Gonzalez, 2011). An increasing number of communication scholars are turning attention to adoption research; however, this research typically focuses on closed adoption (Colaner & Kranstuber, 2010;Kranstuber & Kellas, 2011), adoption reunion (Scharp, 2013;Scharp & Steuber, 2014), international adoption (Docan-Morgan, 2011;Suter, 2008), and foster adoption (Suter, Baxter, Seurer, & Thomas, 2014). Some communication research has emerged on open adoption, but this work tends to focus on societal discourses of adoption (Baxter, Norwood, Asbury, Jannusch, & Scharp, 2012;Baxter, Norwood, Asbury, & Scharp, 2014).…”

The Evolving Nature and Process of Foster Family Communication: An Application and Adaptation of the Family Adoption Communication Model

“…Beyond foster family members' time constraints, accessing foster children is extraordinarily difficult, as permission to study foster children must be granted by the foster parent(s), birth parent(s), and foster care agency in many cases. Consequently, family researchers often have to work around the edges (e.g., turn to online forums) to gain access to this population (see Suter et al, 2014;Thomas, 2014b). Furthermore, because of the temporary nature of foster family relationships (i.e., goal of foster care is to reunify the child with his or her birth parent or legal guardian; Patrick & Galvin, 2012) and the frequent absence of biological ties (i.e., only 30% of placements are with relatives; AFCARS, 2016), some family scholars may not believe that foster families represent legitimate families and, as a result, have failed to consider studying them (Patrick & Galvin, 2012).…”

“…Consequently, research on how communication sustains and functions in foster families warrants specific attention from family researchers. In particular, understanding the nature, process, and impact of foster family communication across the life span could be beneficial to family and communication scholars alike (Nelson & Colaner, 2016;Nelson & Horstman, 2017;Patrick & Galvin, 2012;Suter, Baxter, Seurer, & Thomas, 2014;Thomas, 2014b).…”

A Tale of Two Mommies: (Re)Storying Family of Origin Narratives

“…We were terrified of the thought of getting a child and then having it taken from us so we really didn't want, we just wanted to have our family be our family. (Laney, Laney characterizes donor insemination as having less "complications," referencing the U.S. foster care system's preference for reunification with birth parents (Suter, Baxter, Seurer, & Thomas, 2014). Relatedly, Toni positions adoption as the next best option only after the first, preferred, seemingly more normal choice of donor-inseminated biological childbirth fails: I wanted to have the experience of being pregnant.…”