Although parents adopting from abroad are faced with 'extra parenting tasks', there has been little support available Barnados post-adoption services
UP TO 400 children from abroad are adopted by Irish couples every year, primarily now from Russia, China and Vietnam. More than 4,000 foreign adoptions have been registered in the Republic since 1991.
There has been little support for these families, other than through voluntary networks, when they bring a child home.
The lack of professional help was identified in the recent Intercountry Adoption Outcomes Study by the Children's Research Centre at Trinity College, Dublin. "Many parents reported feeling badly let down and in need of a one-stop shop; a centre or a helpline to call in relation to issues around the development and behaviour of their internationally adopted children," the study says.
The recent announcement of the extension of the Barnardos post-adoption service to support families with children adopted from abroad is the first step in meeting this need. Funding from the HSE will enable it to offer a confidential helpline and e-mail advice service to families, and also to organise workshops and counselling, in a pilot scheme, for Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow.
All parents adopting from abroad face "extra parenting tasks", says the project leader of the post-adoption service, Christine Hennessey. Initially, children arriving from orphanages can have particular problems. Most adopted children are at least one year old by the time they come here.
"If they have not had a structured life, relating to one mother or father figure, they may have catch-up to do in forming attachments," she explains.
As a child grows, adoptive parents must decide on how much information to give about their origin, and how to prepare a child to face the community.
"It's important for parents to learn how to support the child in answering challenging questions, such as: why is your skin a different colour from your mum's or why are your eyes different from your dad's," says Hennessey.
There are two peak times for questioning by the children on where they came from.
"While all children are different, at age seven or eight, some can go through adoptive grieving, as they realise that to gain one family, they have lost another. They start asking more questions and are wondering about adoption at a deeper level."
In the teenage years, it can become an issue. "It's the task of all adolescents to form a picture of who they are and this can be more challenging for the adopted teenagers. They are searching for reasons. This can come out in anger and resistance and parents take the brunt. It can be tough for both sides."
The chief executive of the International Adoption Association (IAA), Grace Kelly, warns against presuming that difficulties with an adopted child are due to adoption. "We should not be pathologising children who are adopted from abroad.
"Sometimes the issues parents will experience will be exactly the same as the parenting issues with birth children. But because they don't know what happened to the child in the first few years of life, it brings a different dynamic into the relationship."
The IAA, which has 1,500 members, welcomes the extension of the Barnardos service, but it is only a "fraction of what is needed" says Kelly. "We do need a national response."
Kelly hopes that the forthcoming Adoption Bill will commit the State to fund post-adoption services for children, as outlined in the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption.
The extension of the Barnardos post-adoption counselling services includes:
Confidential helpline on 01-4546388, running Tuesdays and Thursdays, between 10am and 2pm.
Confidential e-mail advice service: adoption@barnardos.ie.
Support and training meetings on different aspects of raising adopted children.
One-day workshops for people adopting a second time.
Individual counselling for families in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow will be offered as the service develops
Log onto www.barnardos.ie or tel: 01-4530355 or 1850-222300