title: Birthparent romances and identity formation in adopted children.
abstract: Adopted children have two sets of parents as possible identification figures. The usually meager facts about the birthparents are shifted and embellished in response to ongoing developmental needs, and constitute a major contribution to identity formation. A description of this developmental course is offered, and implications of birthparent fantasies for the treatment of adopted persons are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
authors.forename: E B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Rosenberg
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Horner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000300:Adoption / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005201:Fantasy; D006801:Humans; D007062:Identification, Psychological; D008149:Love; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010553:Personality Development; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D012059:Rejection, Psychology