The Intersection of Private and Public Experience among Families Adopting Romanian Children

The experience of adoption has private and public contexts, which intersect in complex ways as families develop over time. The purpose of this study is to examine these contexts, and the relationship between them, that is, the intimate experience of family life as it impacts and is impacted by larger social institutions. This qualitative study utilizes data gathered from a small cohort of mothers of children adopted from Romania. Through an analysis of in-depth interviews conducted over time, we can see with greater clarity how adoptive families are socially constructed around their private and public worlds.