Perspectives on Adoption from Christian Adoptive Parents: A Qualitative Study

Although adoption has long been studied, the rising current evangelical trend of adopting has brought about a new series of questions, mostly pertaining to, “What is it like to be a Christian adoptive parent?” The research goals were to understand how faith motivates one’s decision to adopt and the assimilation of the adopted child into the family, to examine the parallels between theological adoption and human experience adoption, and to see if parents have a qualitatively different kind of bonding or affection for their biological and adoptive children. This qualitative research study was conducted through semi-structured interviews with practicing Christians who have both biological and adopted children. Several major themes emerged from these qualitative interviews, some of which pertain to: the theological or spiritual reasons for adoption, a more concrete understand of theological constructs, the importance of names, and “adoption legacy.