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Intercountry adoptive parent education

• Module 1 - Introduction
  • What is adoption?
  • Who is involved in the adoption process?
  • The adoption process
  • Adoption Services Queensland
  • Suggested reading
• Module 2 - The needs of overseas children requiring permanent adoptive placements in Queensland
  • Overseas country information
  • Are you suited to intercountry adoption?
  • Motivation to adopt
  • Issues and challenges faced by adoptive parents
  • Placement proposals
  • Building resilience with your adopted child
  • Suggested reading
• Module 3 - Child development
  • Understanding child development
  • Factors that impact on child development
  • A child's understanding of adoption
  • Suggested reading
• Module 4 - Attachment and bonding
  • Attachment theory
  • What is attachment and bonding?
  • Types of attachment
  • Attachment behaviour
  • Signs of healthy attachment and bonding
  • Attachment disorder
  • Impact of attachment on adoptive parenting
  • The arousal-relaxation cycle
  • Developing an attachment with your child
  • Suggested reading
• Module 5 - Separation, grief and loss
  • Definition of loss and grief
  • The impact of loss on adoptive parents
  • The impact of loss on adopted children
  • Effects and strategies for dealing with a child's loss
  • Understanding the impact of loss on an adopted child
  • The impact of loss on birth parents
  • The grief process
  • Suggested reading
• Module 6 - Identity and culture
  • Your feelings about ethnic background and culture
  • The impact of adoption on your family
  • Definition of ethnicity, culture and identity
  • Addressing cultural identity
  • The cultural heritage plan
  • Barriers to developing a child's cultural identity
  • A child's racial awareness
  • Stages of development of racial identity
  • Combating racism
  • Telling your child they are adopted
  • The adoptive family life cycle
  • Suggested reading
• Module 7 - Preparing for assessment
  • Departmental assessment considerations
  • Assessing a couple's suitability
  • Meeting the assessment criteria
  • The assessment process
  • Placement considerations
  • Assessors - their perspective
  • Establishing a family tree and Ecomap
  • Suggested reading
• Module 8 - Placement information
  • Medical assessment of children adopted from overseas
  • Lodging an application with the Department of Immigration and Citizenship
  • Migration Health Check
  • Naming your child
  • Travel arrangements
  • Arrival in Australia
  • Queensland Birth Certificate
  • Australian Citizenship
  • Adoptive parent support groups
  • Life Story Book
  • Suggested reading
• Module 9 - General reading
• Family profile
  • My family profile
• Printable version
• Contacts

What is attachment and bonding?

• Attachment - the feeling or need a child has for one or both care givers.
• Bonding - the development of love between a parent and child.
• Attachment behaviour - behaviours demonstrated by a child to elicit a response from an adult to feel close, for example - crying, smiling, following.

Research suggests that attachment is a learned ability where emotional connections between a parent and child are nurtured over time through mutual interaction, and is based on trust. Bonding, on the other hand, occurs between a parent and child without knowledge, intent or conscious effort.

Attachment is formed between a parent and child shortly after birth and develops during the first three years of a child's life as the parent continually meets the physical and emotional needs of their child. Attachment is based on trust - giving birth to a child does not bias a child's attachment with their biological parents over adopted parents.

It is important that an attachment is formed between a child and their parents in order for the child to grow. Attachment does not necessarily form instantly. Through early interaction with the parents, the child develops a cognitive model of themselves, their parents and the world, which allows them to interpret all subsequent experiences.

With adoption, a child must make an immediate emotional attachment to their adoptive parents. An adopted child will sense changes in sounds, smells, stress and rhythms and may respond to these changes by crying, having difficulty sucking, experiencing bowel or bladder disturbances or withdrawal.

It is likely that these changes will be temporary as the child adjusts to their new environment. For adoptive parents to feel attached to their newly adopted child, they must feel confident that they understand the child's cues, including what their cries mean, what will comfort them and what an older child thinks and feels.

Refer to the list of suggested reading for further information on attachment and bonding.

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Last updated

19 October 2007