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A Parent's Guide to Adoption Disruption and Dissolution - BEFORE

BEFORE: ANSWERS TO PARENTS' FIRST QUESTIONS

1. What is disruption and how common is it?
2. Which adoptions are at highest risk of failure?
3. How can disruption be prevented?
4. When is disruption really necessary?

What is disruption and how common is it?

The vast majority, between 80 and 90%, of all adoptions are successful. However, sometimes a poor match is made or circumstances arise that make it impossible for an adoption to continue. When an adoption ends before it has been legally finalized in a courtroom, it is called a "disruption." When a judge overturns an adoption after finalization it is called a "dissolution," (although "disruption" is often used interchangeably to label both processes.) In either case, it is an extremely painful experience for the child, the family, and the adoption agency workers. Parents who face the prospect of disruption need guidance. These frequently asked questions about disruption are a starting point.

Which adoptions are at highest risk of failure?

In a nutshell, the older the child is at placement, the higher the risk of adoption disruption. It is extremely rare, at less than 1%, for an infant adoption to disrupt. Depending on the group being studied, the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse says that the disruption rate can range from 3 to 53 percent.

However, age alone is not a reliable indicator. If a family is well prepared to adopt a 17 year old teen, for instance, and the agency has offered full disclosure and supportive services, the adoption has an excellent chance to succeed in spite of the child's age. Adoption failure risk increases when proper adoption practices are not followed, and especially when the children being placed are older, troubled, and have been through one or more adoption disruptions before.

How can disruption be prevented?

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure says the old expression, and when it comes to adoption, these words ring true. Adoption failure is avoidable when:

• The adoption agency is licensed, recommended by adoption support groups, and maintains high standards of service and ethics;
  
  
• Families are well-prepared to adopt and raise the child(ren) who is being placed;
  
  
• The match between child and parent is sound, bearing in mind the needs and boundaries of all parties;
  
  
• Full disclosure is given to parents about the child's history, diagnosis, and special needs;
  
  
• Post-adoption services and when available, financial assistance, are in place to support the family;
  
  
• Crisis intervention services are available if needed, and
  
  
• According to research, if the parents have ongoing access to the help of the social worker who made the match and placed the child, success is more likely.

When it comes to adoption, there are no guarantees of success, of course, because every situation is unique. However, when the factors listed above are present, the likelihood of adoption failure is very low.

Next page: When is Disruption Really Necessary?

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More of this Feature
• Introduction
• DURING: The Process
• AFTER: Now What?

Glossary
• Adoption Disruption
• Adoption Dissolution
• Residential Treatment

Related Resources
• More from this Author
• Positive Steps for Families in Crisis
• Understanding Your Child


© Rita Laws and Nancy Ashe. This copyrighted article may be printed for private family use and for one-time reproduction in the print newsletters of non-profit adoption support groups and non-profit agencies with appropriate credit to author and web site. This notice must remain with the printed copy. ALL other uses require written permission.

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