The adoption of children against the wishes of their first parents is a highly contested area of policy and social work practice in England and Wales (Doughty, 2015; Featherstone et. al., 2018b; Ward and Smeeton, 2017). In the years since 2010, successive governments have introduced reforms which aim to reduce court timescales and increase the numbers of looked-after children being adopted (Conservative Party, 2019; Department for Education, 2015b). Such reforms have come at a time when entitlements to welfare benefits and services to support families to retain care of their children have been dramatically curtailed (Bywaters et. al., 2020; Hastings et. al., 2015; Featherstone et. al., 2014a; 2018; Lonne et. al., 2016; Morriss, 2018). In a context concerned with prioritising the welfare of individual children (s 1.1, Children Act, 1989), there is evidence that the complex needs of first mothers can be overlooked in favour of a “child rescue” approach to intervention (Crittendon, 2016; Kirton, 2019:4).
First mothers who experience the removal and adoption of their children have been identified as a population of women living with multiple, complex and mutually reinforcing difficulties (Broadhurst and Mason, 2013; Featherstone et. al. 2014a; Neale and Lopez, 2017; Roberts et. al., 2017), and there is evidence that mothers’ voices can be marginalised within the current “happy ever after” narrative surrounding adoption policy (Gupta and Featherstone, 2020:166). This thesis aims to explore 19 first mothers’ experiences of the loss of a child to adoption, including investigation of mothers’ utilisation of artefacts such as toys and blankets associated with now-adopted children in managing their grief. Respondents’ situated accounts are privileged as providing key insights into the experience of marginalised motherhood within the contemporary context.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)