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Adopted Irish children using Facebook to contact parents

Authorities worry about new online trend

By
ANTOINETTE KELLY,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer
Published Saturday, January 7, 2012, 10:10 AM
Updated Saturday, January 7, 2012, 10:10 AM

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Here's one use of Facebook that CEO Mark Zukerberg probably didn't foresee: some birth relatives and their adopted children are making contact with each other through the global social network.

It's a development that has concerned some psychologists, who fear the destabilizing impact that kind of sudden contact could have.

In Britain, health services fear that some birth parents — and in particular those who may have been abusive in the past — could track down their birth children via sites like Facebook to establish or re-establish contact. 

Some psychologists have reported that adopted children have displayed troubled behavior after their parents had unexpectedly re-established contact. 


According to a report in the Irish Examiner, the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI) has said there is already "anecdotal" evidence that birth relatives and adopted children have contacted each other via Facebook, but the outcomes to date do not appear to have been negative.
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But in a sign of the times, the AAI revealed there had been cases where someone who had been adopted had traced their birth relative on Facebook and made contact within 20 minutes.



Nowadays, however, many agencies operate what they call a "clean break" adoption procedure, which means that birth relatives are less likely to have been given the adopted name of their child, hampering a search later on, and equally a parent who adopts may be provided with little information about the identity of the birth parents.



In Ireland, there is no automatic access to birth files for those who have been adopted, which means that anyone seeking a relative online may only have a first name with which to start.

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10 Comments

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ciaradexy | Jan 10, 2012, 02:00 PM EST
Searlit, ''adopted'' means their biological children who have been adopted to new homes not their kids who are ''adoptees''. For example-if my biological mother found me via facebook not if my own parents found me via facebook. Theres a massive difference. I know you dont mean any offence but adopted kids being abused by their parents is pretty much unheard off. Children are abused by their biological parents which is another reasons its so especially despicable. I do some volunteering with kids who have been abused and with the Big Brother Big Sister organisation. The kids who have been abused are abused by their biological family.

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Searlit | Jan 08, 2012, 06:28 PM EST
The article says that there is a "fear" that abusive parents may contact their adopted children. However the AAI knows about "anecdotal" cases of parents contacting their adopted children by Facebook, without negative "outcomes". I can certainly understand any child not wanting to be contacted by any abuser, biological parent, or not. The point is, there is human trafficking going on in the world! I mean you no offense, ciaradexy. I'm only concerned with protecting people when possible.

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ciaradexy | Jan 08, 2012, 05:20 PM EST
I know many adopted people searlit and none of them have been abused. People dont tend to go through all the red tape, interviews and paper work just to get a child to abuse. This article states that the kids who were adopted were abused by their birth parents NOT their adoptive parents. Anyone I know who is adopted were all told from day 1, nothing was hidden from us. We were always told that we were even more special because we were chosen. Where is Portia getting the info from that you just highlighted? Higher incidence of abuse in adoptive homes?? I dont think so. read the article properly.

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Searlit | Jan 08, 2012, 04:41 PM EST
It's nice to know that some adoptees haven't been traumatized. I think Portia777 is only trying to point out the much higher rates of abuse of children when they are adopted, or put in foster care. This isn't to say that all children who are adopted are abused by their adoptive family, only that the higher incidence of abuse in adoptive homes shouldn't be ignored.

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ciaradexy | Jan 08, 2012, 11:43 AM EST
Im adopted and I can assure you it is not traumatic!

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Searlit | Jan 08, 2012, 11:19 AM EST
@Portia777, your compassion sees through everything. Just wanted to tell you that.

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ciaradexy | Jan 08, 2012, 11:14 AM EST
Its hardly a trauma being adopted Portia777! As long as people know from day one then its just normal, its just how it is. Trauma is being abused as a kid.

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Portia777 | Jan 08, 2012, 09:47 AM EST
many agencies operate what they call a "clean break" adoption procedure," How can they believe there is a clean break from their creator mothers?Human nature always shows her truth in the end.

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Portia777 | Jan 08, 2012, 09:45 AM EST
Who gave Gov agents the right to play God? and cut children off from their real families- knowing that a high % of adopted children never recover from the trauma of being separated from their natural mothers. % of adoptees who become murderers etc..all stats are there for people to research. A child is 7 times more likely to be abused by adopters and foster carers than natural parents.

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Portia777 | Jan 08, 2012, 09:42 AM EST
Adoption agencies fear the truth of their business racket coming to light. Children have every right to know their creators as they share the same DNA.

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