Lived Experiences of Infertile Couples About Adoption Challenges

 Adoption can be introduced as one of the methods of caring for children. In this condition, the parent-child relationship is established in legal, emotional, and social ways between people who have no relationship with each other by birth. Considering the expansion and selection of adoption as one of the ways to complete the family in Iranian society, few research studies have been done to understand the problems of adoption. Since the necessary conditions for adopting a child are awareness of issues, challenges, and information and training, to improve the quality level of these services concerning adoption, it is necessary to correctly address the challenges related to the issues of the applicant families. Known and written packages in this area should be compiled. This research aims to investigate the lived experiences of adoptive parents in Yazd City, Iran, to have a successful adoption.

 A qualitative research method was chosen, using the approach of phenomenological theory. In this approach, the systematic procedures of Strauss and Corbin were used. Based on the phenomenology theory approach, it is basically the study of lived experience or the world of life. Phenomenology tries to reveal the meanings they are experiencing in everyday life. Hence, a more complete understanding of the perceived experiences of adoptive parents has been made. The research involved all the adoptive parents of Yazd City, which four years had passed since their adoption. The purposeful sampling method was used to determine the sample in the qualitative part, and 15 adoptive parents were interviewed. The end of sampling occurred when theoretical data saturation was reached. This study was conducted using a qualitative method, and the data were collected through a semi-structured exploratory interview method among those referred to counseling centers under the supervision of the Welfare Organization. The data obtained from each interview reached saturation for the second time. Thematic analysis method was used to code and analyze the data.

 According to the analysis of the answers provided, 7 main themes and 24 subthemes were obtained on the main challenges of adopting a child and the lived experience of adoptive parents. The main themes were "difficulty of infertility for spouses", "finding a way to the idea of adoption", "difficulties of the path of adoption", "facilitators of the path of adoption", "educational challenges of adopted children", "successes caused by adoption", and "failures caused by adoption." These themes were presented in the order of appearance in the process of interviewees' experience and in response to the question of how adoptive parents experience adoption, and the answer to the question why such an experience is experienced can be explained by the infertility of the spouses and the difficulties of adoption. The main theme of the first, which is the difficulties of infertility for spouses, is a description of the way of dreaming with infertility, the efforts made in this direction, and the costs imposed on the spouses they have found. In this context, the spouses participating in the research considered the role of the media, friends, and close relatives to be effective in the impasse of infertility treatments and the meaninglessness of childless life. Part of these difficulties are related to difficult legal processes; part is related to the sensitivity towards the legitimacy and confidentiality of the adopted child, concern for the reaction of the people around the adoption, and lack of skills in dealing with adoption challenges. Some of these challenges are similar to the existing challenges of raising children with normal parents, and some of them are created due to the necessity of adopting a child and taking care of an adopted child.

 In this research, the lived experience of infertile couples was investigated more deeply, and the challenges of adoption were identified. If appropriate solutions are adopted and adoptive families find the necessary preparations, adoption will generally be associated with pleasant and positive outcomes.