ABSTRACT
This chapter was written by John Simmonds, OBE, Director of Policy, Research and Development at CoramBAAF, and covers the history and societal implications of adoption and the legal framework around the adoption process. Simmonds reflects on issues relating to identity and belonging and what happens when children are not brought up by their birth parents and how adoption can provide an alternative opportunity for them. Simmonds refers to the fundamental break caused by this change in arrangements and the primitive and powerful need of the baby to be connected to safe and trustworthy parents. He uses attachment theory as a linguistic framework for making sense of the child’s position in a relational world and the complex dynamics of interacting with and separating from others. At its best, Simmonds argues, adoption can result in an integrated narrative for the child/adult, the adoptive and birth parents, and their wider families, but the experience can also expose the deficits and primary losses that may never fully be resolved.
