Contact after Adoption: A longitudinal study of post adoption contact arrangements

'Contact after adoption' presents the comprehensive findings of a longitudinal study that followed up a group of adopted children, their adoptive parents and birth relatives, where some form of postadoption contact was planned. The findings are of particular importance due to the study’s duration – the children, all placed under the age of four, have been followed through preschool, middle childhood and into later adolescence. The key aims of the study were to explore people’s experiences of contact and its impact on children and adults. A strong body of evidence has been collected about the impact of open adoption on all those involved, and on how children’s experiences of and need for contact change as they grow and develop.Contact after adoption makes an important contribution to the existing research on contact and offers practice recommendations that will be invaluable to all those involved in making or managing contact with children and families.