Research into intercountry adoption in the UK is limited in range and scope in comparison to the growing body of findings from the US, Scandinavia and the Netherlands and this thesis will provide the first in-depth study of the views and experiences of parents who have adopted children from overseas since the IBA Report in 1991. It will provide empirical research findings that can be used, both at a national and a local level, to aid policy decision-making. Foreign-born children represent only a small minority of children in the UK but the number and proportion of children adopted from overseas is growing and seems likely to remain substantial in years ahead and there is a need to understand more fully the experiences of families who adopt these children. Because intercountry adoption has been on a small scale in the UK, services available have been fragmentary and diverse around the country and the expertise and support available to parents both during and after the adoption has differed greatly. However, with the passing of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 and the ratification of the Hague Convention in 2003, Local Authorities are now required to provide the same level of services to intercountry adopters and a major programme of training is currently being launched. This thesis will examine parents' experiences of the adoption process and the ways in which they deal with the challenge of recognising the child's birth culture and issues of race and ethnicity, and will also look at who they turn to for support both during and after the adoption of their children. A total of thirty-one families who between them had adopted forty-three children (twenty nine girls and fourteen boys) from twelve different countries were interviewed about their experiences. The families lived in a number of different locations scattered around the UK, from the south coast of England to the North East of England but with the biggest number( fourteen) living in London. It was evident that experiences differed considerably influenced by a number of factors including the age of the children, the country from which they were adopted and the neighbourhood in which families lived. The findings suggest that preparation of parents for adopting children from overseas has in the past been neglected in a number of ways and recommends the need for a more comprehensive range of specialist services both pre and post adoption.

Intercountry adoption, where children are born in one country and adopted by families in another country, has become an increasing global phenomenon (Scherman & Harré, 2004). As indicated by a review of the literature, the research in relation to intercountry adoptees provides contradictory findings in almost every area. However, since there is some evidence to suggest that a proportion of intercountry adoptees are at greater risk of developing mental health difficulties (Van Ijzendoorn & Juffer, 2006) further research, particularly in the UK, is required. As Anjudo (1988) posits, parents are their children‟s major reference group, and this research is therefore aimed at exploring the experience of parenting an intercountry adoptee. A qualitative approach, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, 1996) was chosen as the most suitable methodology. This approach aims to explore in detail how participants are making sense of their world, and the meanings that experiences hold for them. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six participants who had accessed or were accessing support from a specialist Adoption and Fostering team. The analysis of the transcribed verbatim accounts yielded four super-ordinate themes; „the importance of resolve and tenacity‟, „blood versus water‟, „weathering the storm of parenthood‟ and „the complexity of cultivating a heritage‟. The results were consistent with some of the existing theoretical, research and clinical literature. Additionally they also provided some new areas for consideration such as the emotional difficulties in negotiating the process of intercountry adoption. Additionally, areas for future research were proposed. Due to the small sample size, implications and recommendations are considered tentatively and include (1) prospective intercountry adoptive parents would benefit from the provision of pre and post-adoption supportive groups, (2) intercountry adoptive families would benefit from greater availability of multi-disciplinary specialist teams to address their needs, (3) there is a role for cultural consultants to aid both adoptive parents and professionals in their work with intercountry adoptive families. Since the number of children internationally who need new families continues to increase it is important to continue to find improved ways to support intercountry adoptive families.