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There is a need for this book. UK-based child and adolescent psychotherapists in the NHS will no doubt be working with adopted children and their adoptive families. The evidence for the increasing mental health needs of children in substitute care is clear (Meltzer et al., 2003; Ford et al., 2007). In the UK, the usual pathway to adoption is from a period in state care (Rees and Selwyn, 2009). Infant adoption is uncommon. Early adversity and age at the time of placement are probably the key factors in the emotional difficulties of adoptees (Van den Dries et al., 2009). It is certainly true that adoptees are over-represented in mental health clinics for children in both the UK and the USA (Brand and Brinich, 1999; Van IJzendoorn and Juffer, 2006). Child psychotherapy needs to be informed about the specific context of adoption in order to be effective (Barth et al., 2005). With the extensive loss and trauma that most adoption triangles contain, it is important to understand just how complex the work is (Hodges, 2005). Notwithstanding all of the above difficulties, the long- term outcomes for adoption are better than long-term foster care and most research suggests that it is an important and effective intervention for children who cannot remain with their birth parents (Van IJzendoorn and Juffer, 2006). The enormous contributions of the adoptive parents are not without complications. Infertility or the lost potential child can have an enormous impact on the parenting offered by adoptive parents (Kaniuk et al., 2004).
In 12 chapters the American editors of this encyclopaedic book manage to corral 21 contributors to provide a mostly coherent and thorough examination of this topic from a predominantly psychoanalytic and attachment theory orientation.
Chapter One sets the stage from which to explore adoptive parenthood. The psychological characteristics of adoptive parents and their motivation are described. The European and American history of adoption is outlined. There i