Table Of Content

Recognising Adoptee Relationships With a triadic perspective, this autoethnographic narrative explores the tem- poral, situated nature of interactions between the author as an adoptee with her adult adopted children as well as those between herself and her birth father and mother. The epiphanic adoptive family narratives that are foregrounded seek to deepen and challenge understanding of how kinship affinities are experienced. The autoethnographic narratives are written in a critical, evocative style which is valuable for two reasons. Firstly, the processes of reflexive self-i ntrospection, self- observation, and dialogue with relational others have established a critical connection between recognising and responding to kinship affinities and personal growth. Secondly, lying at the intersection of the self and other this narrative contributes to deepening insights around epistemic in/j ustice in adoptive kinship. This book will be of interest to educators and scholars of adoption in offering an insider perspective on unique family relationships as well as how the author undertakes critical evocative autoethnography. Adoptees, adoptive parents, and birth parents will also find the narratives in Part II of this book of particular interest in informing an understanding of kin relationships and how these may be subject to change over time. Christine A. Lewis is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Edge Hill University. She is an adoptee, adoptive mother and birth daughter. Her research interests include autoethnographic, autobiographic, and narrative accounts of adoption, and estrangement in families. Her recent chapter on family estrangement is entitled ‘Blood is thicker than water!’ (2022). Routledge Advances in Sociology 339 The Ethos of the Enlightenment and the Discontents of Modernity Matan Oram 340 Happiness and Domestic Life The Influence of the Home on Subjective and Social Wellbeing Edited by Maria Teresa Russo, Antonio Argandoña and Richard Peatfield 341 Baudrillard and Lacanian Psychoanalysis Victoria Grace 342 Ethics, Economy and Social Science Dialogues with Andrew Sayer Edited by Balihar Sanghera and Gideon Calder 343 Transformative Action for Sustainable Outcomes Responsible Organising Edited by Maria Sandberg and Janne Tienari 344 The Age- friendly Lens Edited by Christie M. Gardiner and Eileen Webb 345 Recognising Adoptee Relationships Christine A. Lewis 346 Schools, Space and Culinary Capital Gurpinder Singh Lalli For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/ Routledge- Advances- in- Sociology/ book- series/ SE0511 Recognising Adoptee Relationships Christine A. Lewis First published 2023 by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2023 Christine A. Lewis The right of Christine A. Lewis to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Lewis, Christine A., author. Title: Recognising adoptee relationships / Christine A. Lewis. Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2023. | Series: Routledge advances in sociology | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2022006757 (print) | LCCN 2022006758 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367466886 (hbk) | ISBN 9780367494940 (pbk) | ISBN 9781003030393 (ebk) Subjects: LCSH: Adoptees–Family relationships. | Adoptees–Psychology. | Self-actualization (Psychology) Classification: LCC HV875 .L447 2023 (print) | LCC HV875 (ebook) | DDC 362.82/98–dc23/eng/20220407 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022006757 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022006758 ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 46688- 6 (hbk) ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 49494- 0 (pbk) ISBN: 978- 1- 003- 03039- 3 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/ 9781003030393 Typeset in Times New Roman by Newgen Publishing UK Contents List of figures and table vi PART I An adoptee’s critical autoethnography 1 1 In- between- ness and belonging 3 2 Autoethnography 22 PART II Stories of adoptive kinship 41 3 ‘You’re not my real mum!’ 45 4 Recognition as love 67 5 Darkest February 93 6 Five years later 106 7 My lineage 112 Index 126 newgenprepdf Figures and table Figures 1 Conceptual framework diagram 11 2 Conceptual framework of epiphanies 17 Table 1 Autobiographical epiphanies which form the narratives in Part II 16 Part I An adoptee’s critical autoethnography Chapter 1 In- between- ness and belonging Who am I? Who am I? Factually speaking, I am an adoptee, adoptive mother, and a birth daughter. Distinctively, but not uniquely, I am an adopted woman who has adopted children. I occupy simultaneous roles; my self is primarily vis- ible in evaluating significant experiences around adoptive and birth family interactions as an insider and subject (Denzin 2014). To my knowledge, the distinct triadic perspective I write from is unique; this work involves illus- trating adoptive family interactions from each of my three perspectives. I am also simultaneously a researcher and the researched. I consider myself a feminist, a critical autoethnographer, and a writer of evocative narratives. Central to this autoethnography is the realisation that I appear in the text as a character with multifaceted intergenerational roles, a detail which has implications for how I portray the nuances of complex experiences. My narrative is interwoven with observing the importance of artefacts, use of place, space, and texts in adoptive family culture. In other words, a ‘brico- lage of recorded practices of self- representation that revealed various and significant processes in the constitution of my [author’s addition] female self’ (Duckworth et al. 2016). I was adopted at the age of 6 weeks in 1962 through a confidential, closed, or secret adoption system. In 1991 my husband and I adopted a boy (Jamie, then aged 23 months) and a girl (Jane, aged 12 months). Jamie and Jane are full siblings but had never lived together before August 1991. Growing up as an adopted person I have developed a strong belief that the nature of knowledge of what constitutes the different aspects of my self is partial, fragmentary, and interpretive. My distinctive epistemological stance stems from my double identity, birth and adoptive, from understanding that the potential of my double identity is subject to further fragmentations. Circumstances, values, and beliefs have shaped my position as an adopted person and my sense of self. I consciously hold an experience- orientated interpretive view of the world, hermeneutic and idiographic in stance (Clough et DOI: 10.4324/9781003030393-2