Browsing by Subject "http://www.yso.fi/onto/yso/p13735"

The target phenomenon of the study is the experiences of adoptive parenting and family life by those parents who has a child adopted from South Africa. The object of interest is the adoptive parenthood and the experience of the adoptive family's everyday life. In Finland the interest about international adoption is great. As a contact country, South Africa has steadily raised interest. My goal in this study together with the wide theory of adoptions and adoptive parents' personal experiences is to serve those parents who are considering participate to international adoption process and especially thinking to adopt a child from South Africa. The frame of reference of this research is qualitative and theory guiding. The theoretical background examines the nature of the adoption process, the various stages of the process, as well as jurisprudence and ethics through the process as part of the protection of children. The approach in this study is a narrative. I gathered the research data by writing quest for the adoptive parents. The data consists the total of the six subjective reports written by six adoptive parents whose children where born in South Africa. The study revealed how the adoption is a very strongly legal process which is closely linked to the authorities' actions. During the process of adoption, the adoptive applicants are required to make a number of informed choices. During this process related to every party – both children and parents – there are always present the changes, losses, and hopes. While examining and comparing the data it became clear how an adoptive parenting is pretty much the same as a biological parenthood. Despite this, the adoptive parenting is always at the same a time different and special. The challenges of the spectrum appears to be mostly: adoptive children with special needs and responding to those special needs, attachment relationship and sometimes in different ways racist encounters.