Research: Institute Research

The Adoption Institute is committed to conducting ground-breaking research to improve understanding and provide reliable information to inform ethical adoption practices that respect all people touched by adoption. The following is a listing of major research projects conducted and published by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute with the most recent study listed first. For inquiries and questions, please email info@adoptioninstitute.org.

To see a comprehensive listing of all Institute publications organized by topic see Publications, or to view a listing of just policy briefs, see Policy & Practice Papers. For a listing of current Institute initiatives, see Programs & Projects and other Institute products including conferences, books and events.

Title: Untangling the Web: The Internet's Transformative Impact on Adoption

Author: Jeanne A. Howard, Ph.D.
Published: 2012 December, New York NY: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Document Type: Policy and Practice Perspective (70 pages)
Availability: PDF Full Report | Executive Summary | Web Page | Press Release
This new report concludes that social media and other elements of this modern technology are having "transformative" effects – positive and negative – on adoption policy, practice and millions of people’s lives, while raising serious legal, ethical and procedural concerns that have yet to be addressed.

Title: Openness in Adoption: From Secrecy and Stigma to Knowledge and Connections

Authors: Deborah H. Siegel, Ph.D. and Susan Livingston Smith, LCSW
Published: 2012 March, New York NY: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Document Type: Practice Perspective (50 pages)
Availability: PDF Full Report | Executive Summary | Web Page | Press Release
This new report depicts just how exensively adoption in the U.S. has changed over the decades – from a time when it was shrouded in so much secrecy that birth and adoptive families knew nothing about each other, to a new reality today in which the vast majority of infant adoptions are "open," meaning the two familts have some level of ongoing relationship. At the core of this report is a new Institute survey of agency practice relating to infant adoption placements.

Title: Expanding Resources for Children III: Research-Based Best Practices in Adoption by Gays and Lesbians

Author: David M. Brodzinsky, Ph.D.
Published: 2011 October, New York NY: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Document Type: Policy Brief (69 pages)
Availability: PDF Full Report | Executive Summary | Web Page | Press Release
This report is the culmination of a four-year research project. It presents new empirical data about the perceptions, experiences and needs of lesbian and gay parents, and provides recommendations for improving practice and strengthening supports for adoptive families headed by non-heterosexual adults.

Title: Never Too Old: Achieving Permanency and Sustaining Connections for Older Youth in Foster Care

Authors: Jeanne A. Howard and Stephanie Berzin
Published: 2011 July. New York NY: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Document Type: Policy and PracticePerspective(94 pages)
Availability: PDF Full Report | Web Page | Press Release | Executive Summary
This Institute Report explores initiatives, synthesizes research findings, and makes recommendations for better meeting the needs of the growing proportion of youth who "age out" of foster care each year – and face daunting challenges in their transition to adulthood.

Title: Keeping The Promise: The Critical Need for Post-Adoption Services to Enable Children and Families to Succeed

Author: Susan Livingston Smith
Published: 2010 October. New York NY: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Document Type: Policy Brief (99 pages)
Availability: PDF Full Report | Executive Summary | Web Page | Press Release
An extensive examination of adoptive families in the United States, concludes that too many are not receiving the essential services they need, and calls for a reshaping of national priorities and resources to develop and provide such services.

Title: For The Records II: An Examination of the History and Impact Of Adult Adoptee Access to Original Birth Certificates

Authors: Dr. Jeanne A. Howard, Susan Livingston Smith, Program Director and Georgia Deoudes.
Published: 2010 July. New York NY: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Document Type: Policy Brief (46 pages)
Availability: PDF Full Report | Executive Summary | Web Page | Press Release I
Press Release II
"For the Records II: An Examination of the History and Impact of Adult Adoptee Access to Original Birth Certificates" is based on a years-long examination of relevant judicial and legislative documents; of decades of research and other scholarly writing; and of the concrete experiences of states and countries that have either changed their laws to provide these documents or never sealed them at all.

Title: Beyond Culture Camp: Promoting Healthy Identity Formation in Adoption

Authors: Hollee McGinnis, Susan Livingston Smith, Dr. Scott D. Ryan, and Dr. Jeanne A. Howard
Published: 2009 November. New York NY: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Document Type: Research (112 pages)
Availability: PDF Full Report | Web Page | Press Release
Executive Summary
This study, released in November, is the broadest, most extensive examination of adult adoptive identity to date, based on input from the primary experts on the subject: adults who were adopted as children.

Title: Old Lessons for a New World: Applying Adoption Research and Experience to Assisted Reproductive Technology

Authors: Naomi Cahn
Published: 2009 Feb. New York NY: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Document Type: Policy Brief (33 pages)
Availability: PDF Full Report | Executive Summary | Web Page | Press Release
The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute released this Policy Perspective brief in February 2009 which suggests that the knowledge derived from adoption-related research and experience can be used to improve policy and practice in the world of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) such as sperm, egg and embryo "donations." "Old Lessons for a New World" identifies several areas in which adoption's lessons could be applied, including secrecy and the withholding of information; a focus on the best interests of children; the creation of "nontraditional" families, particularly as more single, gay and lesbian adults use ART; the impact of market forces; and legal and regulatory frameworks to inform standards and procedures.

Title: Expanding Resources for Waiting Children II: Eliminating Legal & Practice Barriers to Gay & Lesbian Adoption from Foster Care

Authors: Jeanne Howard & Madelyn Freundlich
Published: 2008 Sept. New York NY: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Document Type: Policy Brief (51 pages)
Availability: PDF Full Report | Executive Summary | Web Page | Press Release
This Institute report offers recommendations to increase the pool of prospective adoptive parents for children in foster care by changing state laws and agency practices so they become more welcoming of gay and lesbian applicants. This report builds on the Institute's 2006 Policy & Practice Perspective, "Expanding Resources for Waiting Children: Is Adoption by Gays and Lesbians Part of the Answer?"

Title: Finding Families for African American Children: The Role of Race & Law in Adoption from Foster Care

Authors: Susan Smith, Ruth McRoy, Madelyn Freundlich, Joe Kroll
Published: 2008 May. New York NY: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Document Type: Policy Brief (58 pages)
Availability: PDF Full Report | Executive Summary | Web Page | Press Release
This Institute report, endorsed by a broad range of national child-welfare organizations, is the most thorough examination to date of the often-sensitive, controversial issues relating to transracial adoption and calls for major changes to better serve the needs of children of color and to improve their prospects of moving to permanent, loving homes.

Title: Adoptive Parent Preparation Project Phase I: Meeting the Mental Health and Developmental Needs of Adopted Children

Author: David Brodzinksy
Published: 2008 February. New York NY: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Document Type: Policy Brief (18 pages)
Availability: PDF Full Report | Web Page | Press Release

This publication, released in February, represents the initial phase of a broad, long-term Institute project designed to shape best-practice standards that will assist adoption professionals in the preparation and education of adoptive parents. This policy and practice paper outlines best practices for preparing adoptive parents to meet the mental health and developmental needs of their children.

Title: For the Records: Restoring a Right to Adult Adoptees

Author: Madelyn Freundlich
Published: 2007 November. New York NY: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Document Type: White Paper (31 pages)
Availability: PDF Full Report | Executive Summary | Glossary of Terms | Web Page | Press Release

This study, published as part of National Adoption Awareness month, represents the most comprehensive examination to date of one of the most controversial, emotional issues in the modern adoption world: whether adopted people, once they become adults, should have access to their original birth certificates. This report suggests that all states change their laws so that the answer is "yes." This policy paper is the result of the broadest, most extensive examination to date of the various issues related to state laws governing adult adopted persons' access to their original birth certificates and/or adoption records; and recommendations in this paper are drawn from a review and analysis of past and current state laws; legislative history in states across the country; decades of experience on relevant issues; and the body of research relating to sealed and open records on the affected parties.

Title: Safeguarding the Rights and Well-Being of Birthparents in the Adoption Process

Author: Susan Smith
Published: 2006 November. New York NY: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Document Type: White Paper
Availability: PDF Full Report | Executive Summary | Web Page | Press Release

This study, published in November 2006 as part of National Adoption Awareness month, represents the most thorough, intensive and sophisticated effort to date to understand contemporary infant adoption, particularly as it relates to the least-understood and most-stigmatized participants in the process: the women and men usually termed "birthparents."

Title: Expanding Resources for Children: Is Adoption By Gays and Lesbians Part of the Answer for Boys and Girls Who Need Homes?

Author: Jeanne Howard
Published: 2006 March. New York: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Document Type: Policy Perspective
Availability: Executive Summary | PDF Full Report | Web Page | Press release

This Policy Perspective brief provides a research-based context for the ongoing debate in the United States over the adoption of children by gays and lesbians. The report examined relevant issues, laws and practices relating to gay and lesbian adoption and parenting, and review of the available studies spanning the last several decades. The report found no child-centered reason to prevent gays and lesbians from becoming adoptive parents, and recommends that gay and lesbian parents be utilized more extensively to provide permanent, loving homes for children living in state care across the country. This policy brief is part of a larger, more extensive yearlong project on theses issues.

Title: Adoption in the Schools: A Lot to Learn

Authors: Susan Livingston Smith, Debbie Riley
Published: 2006 September. New York: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Document Type: Policy Perspective
Availability: PDF Full Report | Press release

The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute released this Policy Perspective brief in September 2006 which for the first time brings together research and years of broad experience on a range of issues that affect millions of boys and girls nationwide. The report points out that, as adoption becomes increasingly normalized in the United States, more and more adoptive families are confronting challenges when their children attend school - and it offers recommendations for how educators can better meet those challenges. The report also states that educating educators about the realities of adoption is a diversity issue and also a fairness issue, because adopted and foster children are sometimes derided in ways we would never accept if the taunting or stereotyping referred to other aspects of their being - such as race, gender, ethnicity, religion or disability.

Title: Intercountry Adoption in Emergencies: The Tsunami Orphans

Author: Hollee McGinnis
Published: 2005 April. New York, NY: The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption
Document Type: Policy Perspectives
Availability: PDF Full Report

This policy brief examines the role of intercountry adoption in situations such as the one caused by the massive tsunami that struck Southeast Asia and the eastern coast of Africa on Dec. 26, 2004 - that is, during natural disasters, armed conflicts, and other complex human emergencies. By outlining some of the unique threats posed to children during emergencies, and examining existing international conventions and the legal framework for intercountry adoption, this brief articulates best practices that incorporate both immediate and long-term needs of children left without parental care - including protection, family reunification, community and family solutions, permanency, and respect for culture.

Title: Safeguarding Interstate Adoptions: The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children

Author: Susan Livingston Smith
Published: 2005 April; Revised 2005 June
Document Type: Policy Perspectives
Availability: PDF Full Report

The primary safeguard to regulate the adoption of boys and girls from one state to another is the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children (ICPC). For a large number of foster children, finding permanent families requires moving in with relatives or other families outside their own states. For these children, accomplishing permanency is a more complicated process, requiring the cooperation of child welfare agencies and judicial systems in two jurisdictions. The ICPC was created four decades ago, and the pressure to expedite interjurisdictional placements has finally built to the point where serious efforts are now being undertaken to reform the process. This policy brief outlines the relevant issues in an effort to inform the discussion during current efforts to improve the ICPC system.

Title: What's Working for Children: A Policy Study of Adoption Stability and Termination

Author: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Published: 2004 November. New York NY: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Document Type: White Paper
Availability: PDF Full Report | Executive Summary | Web Page | Press release

A 2004 research study that found the majority of adoptions from foster care have remained intact over time. The study also raises questions about the effectiveness of state data-collection systems on adoption terminations and offers recommendations to improve policies and practices.

Title: Unintended Consequences: 'Safe Haven" Laws Are Causing Problems, Not Solving Them

Author: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Published: 2003 March. New York, NY: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute.
Document Type: White Paper
Availability: PDF Full Report | Web Page | Press release

A groundbreaking report released by the Adoption Institute in 2003 that examined the effectiveness and consequences of the so-called "safe haven" laws, and raised troubling and difficult questions about current laws. The report findings indicate that safe haven laws not only do not solve the problem of unsafe infant abandonment, but actually may encourage women to conceal pregnancies and then abandon infants who otherwise would have been placed for adoption through established legal procedures or been raised by relatives.

Title: Adoption by Lesbians and Gays: A National Survey of Adoption Agency Policies, Practices, and Attitudes

Author: David Brodzinsky
Published: October 29, 2003. New York, NY: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Document Type: White Paper
Availability: Web Page | Press release

A major report released by the Adoption Institute in 2003, found that approximately 60 percent of adoption agencies accept applications from Lesbian and Gay couples, and that nearly 40 percent have placed children with such adoptive parents. On a broad level, the study also demonstrated how profoundly social attitudes and practices toward gays and lesbians are changing, while the willingness of agencies to accept them as parents means a growing number of children who need homes are moving into permanent families.

Title: 2002 National Adoption Attitudes Survey

Author: Conducted by Harris Interactive for the Adoption Institute and Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.
Published: 2002.
Document Type: White Paper
Availability: PDF Full Report | Executive Summary | Web Page | Press release

Findings from the 2002 National Adoption Attitudes Survey, sponsored by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, in cooperation with the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, were released June 19, 2002. The landmark study examines public support for, experience with and consideration of adoption, in addition to Americans' views about foster care adoption.

Title: Benchmark Adoption Survey: Report on the Findings

Author: Conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates for the Adoption Institute. Washington, D.C.: Princeton Survey Research Associates.
Published: 1997 October
Document Type: White Paper (56 pages)
Availability: PDF Full Report | Web Page | Press release

The Adoption Institute's 1997 Benchmark Adoption Survey was the first national public opinion research on American perceptions of adoption.

Title: Openness in Adoption and Post-Adoption Contact Agreements: A Review of the Empirical Research and Current State Law

Author: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Published: 1999 December
Document Type: White Paper
Availability: PDF Full Report | Web Page

An introductory information booklet published by the Adoption Institute in 1999 that provides information about post-adoption contact agreements and inquiries into "open adoption

Title: The Gathering of the First Generation of Adult Korean Adoptees: Adoptees' Perceptions of International Adoption

Author: Madelyn Freundlich, Joy Kim Lieberthal
Published: 2000 June. New York, NY: The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute (52 pages)
Document Type: White Paper
Availability: PDF Full Report | Web Page| Press release

A report by former Executive Director Madelyn Freundlich and Joy Kim Lieberthal that contains a historical overview of the international adoption of Korean children; the results of the survey conducted by the Institute prior to historical Gathering conference of the first generation of Korean adoptees, and synopsis of the adoptee discussion groups.

Title: Ethics and Adoption: Challenges for Today and the Future - Summary of Conference Proceedings

Author: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Published: 2000 March. New York, NY: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute (74 pages)
Document Type: Conference Proceedings
Availability: Web Page

The Adoption Institute sponsored the first ever conference designed to bring together those who are concerned about the ethical issues that affect the practice of adoption in all arenas. "Ethics and Adoption: Challenges for Today," held in November 1999 provided opportunities to learn and to actively explore the key ethical issues that confront adoption today and in the future, with key findings published by the Institute.

Title: A Summary of the Research and the Practice Recommendations, from Adoption and Prenatal Alcohol and Drug Exposure: The Research, Policy and Practice Challenges October 1997 Conference.

Author: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Published: 1998 June. New York, NY: Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
Document Type: Conference Proceedings
Availability: Web Page | Press release

In October 1997 the Adoption Institute sponsored a groundbreaking symposium that explored the impact of prenatal drug and alcohol abuse on the development of children who are adopted and the supports needed by families who adopt them. A summary of the research and practice recommendations from the symposium, "Adoption and Prenatal Alcohol and Drug Exposure: The Research, Policy and Practice Challenges," was published in June 1998.