Global Families, Inequality and Transnational Adoption: The De-Kinning of First Mothers PDF
Preview Global Families, Inequality and Transnational Adoption: The De-Kinning of First Mothers
Global Families, Inequality and Transnational Adoption THE DE-KINNING OF FIRST MOTHERS RIITTA HÖGBACKA Global Families, Inequality and Transnational Adoption Riitta Högbacka Global Families, Inequality and Transnational Adoption The De-Kinning of First Mothers Riitta Högbacka University of Helsinki Finland ISBN 978-1-137-52474-4 ISBN 978-1-137-52476-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-52476-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016956480 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 The author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identified as the author(s) of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and trans- mission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover image © Blend Images / Alamy Stock Photo Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Macmillan Publishers Ltd. The registered company address is: The Campus, 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW, United Kingdom For Cleopatra Acknowledgements This book has been a long time coming. I first thought it would be a small-scale study of adoptive families like mine. Little did I know then that it was to become much wider in scope, eventually placing women whose children are adopted transnationally centre stage. I am indebted to so many people without whom the book would not be in its current form. The origins of the research on which it is based lie in a project funded by the Academy of Finland and led by Riitta Jallinoja (2005–2007), for which I was employed as a postdoctoral scholar. The project dealt with family transitions. Thank you, Riitta Jallinoja, the Academy of Finland and the other researchers in and around the proj- ect: Anna-Maija Castrén, Kaisa Kuurne (previously Ketokivi), Jaana Maksimainen, Heini Martiskainen de Koenigswarter, Anna Kokko, Ella Sihvonen and Juhani Suonpää. Our group conversations and seminars helped me to clarify my aims and gave me food for thought. The academic year 2010–2011 that I spent as a scholar-in-residence at the Beatrice Bain Research Group of the University of California at Berkeley was instrumental in the development of the themes covered in the book. I am grateful to this programme and to its directors Charis Thompson and Trinh Minh-ha. Special thanks are due to Gillian Edgelow for her continuous practical and emotional support in getting my daugh- ter and me settled. It was a pleasure to get to know the other researchers involved in the programme. This international group of scholars was a vii viii Acknowledgements source of inspiration and made me see my research from new angles. I would like to thank Laura Fantone, Meeta Rani Jha, Libby Lewis, Minh-Ha Pham, Nicole Roberts, Judy Rohrer, Wendy Sarvasy and Song Sufeng, as well as the affiliated scholars who were there at the same time: Ayesha Airifai, Daniela Danna, Rosa Medina Domenech, Samar Habib, Kate MacNeill, Jennifer Ring, Veronica Sanz, Silke Schicktanz and Diane Tober. At a later stage, Kristen Cheney came up with the idea of organis- ing an International Forum on Intercountry Adoption and Global Surrogacy at the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, the Netherlands, in 2014. I learned a lot at this stimulating congress, acting as a chair in some of the sessions. My thanks go to Kristen and the other chairs Marcy Darnovsky, Sarah Richards, Karen Rotabi and Peter Selman. I also wish to thank all my colleagues and the Department of Social Research at the University of Helsinki, where I was employed as a lecturer in Sociology for several years. I am grateful to all the bright students who joined my qualitative-methods courses on Reflexive Interviewing over the years, and whose comments and questions led to the revising of some of the examples I gave from my research interviews. My thanks also go to Sanna Aaltonen, with whom we edited a book on the role of reflexivity in empirical research. This collaboration led to a better understanding of my role as part of the field I was studying. I thank Peter Selman for providing the global figures on adoptions. In addition, several South African scholars gave their assistance in gaining access to data on South African adoptions. Thank you, Zitha Mokomane and Priscilla Gerrand, as well as Isaac Chavalala and Dikeledi Louw and their colleagues at the Directorate of Adoptions and International Social Services at the South African Department of Social Development. I would also like to thank Jeremy Seekings for suggesting relevant litera- ture on South African families that helped me to arrive at a more nuanced understanding of the context in which first mothers operate. I have benefited from conversations with many outstanding scholars over the years. Riitta Jallinoja read through an early draft of this book, and her comments led to the sharpening of the whole approach. Anna- Maija Castrén read an earlier and a later version, and I greatly benefited Acknowledgements ix from her insightful comments. David Smolin undertook the task of reviewing the manuscript on a very tight time schedule, for which I am most grateful. My warmest thanks go to Barbara Yngvesson, who has supported the project over the years. Barbara read several versions of the manuscript. Her wise and kind comments truly improved the book and gave me a real energy boost to pick it up one more time and try to make the arguments clearer. I am grateful to all the funders whose financial support made this book project possible. I have received funding from the Kone Foundation, the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Emil Aaltonen Foundation. I thank Palgrave Macmillan for accepting the manuscript and the edi- tors Harriet Barker and Sharla Plant, who firmly and efficiently pushed the project forward. I am grateful to Joan Nordlund for superb language revi- sion as well as other suggestions that greatly improved the text. I would also like to thank the series editors of the Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Family and Intimate Life for their comments on an earlier version of the book. Warm thanks go to my parents, Aili and Veini, as well as to my brother Paul and his family for being there. Many friends both in Finland and abroad have helped me to maintain life outside the book project. Special thanks go to my oldest friends Maarit and Sirpa. My daughter Cleopatra has had the biggest effect on my life. She has more or less grown up with this ongoing book project. Her sense of humour and high spirits are a constant source of joy. As she says, now that the book is finally finished, I have no excuses for not cooking more tasty meals. I have not only researched these issues but also lived them. I very much appreciate the connections we have created with Cleopatra’s first mother Thapelo and her extended family. I am grateful to all the mothers (and some fathers) who took part in the research, gave their time and shared with me such sensitive and pri- vate issues. It must have been even more difficult for the South African first mothers. I wish to thank the Finnish and the South African adoption social workers and adoption agencies who assisted me. I am particularly indebted to Pam Wilson and Katinka Pieterse for their help. I dedicate this book to first mothers around the world who wonder about the whereabouts of their children. Contents 1 Introduction: The Global in the Family 1 2 Adoption and Family in the Global North and South 33 3 The Making of the Adoptive Family: Choosing Family 61 4 The Un-Making of the Family of Origin: Adoption Social Workers as Intermediaries 93 5 First Mothers’ Stunted Choices 119 6 Inequality Among First Mothers: The Power of Resources 155 7 Re-Making Family: The Struggle Over Belonging 181 8 C ontact Over Time 215 9 Conclusion: Re-Kinning First Mothers 231 xi xii Contents Appendix: Characteristics of the Interviewed Adopters and First Mothers 245 References 249 Index 271
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