Birthparent romances and identity formation in adopted children.
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.
Rosenberg
E B
EB
Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Horner
T M
TM
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