This qualitative study, from the domestic adoptee perspective, reflects the analysis of thirty-seven online stories of adoptee-birth mother/family reunions. The present study contributes to existing literature on adoption reunion and extends understanding of adoption reconnection by focusing on the constitution of its meaning. Studies privileging meaning-making help unravel why certain outcomes emerge and emphasize the importance of communication in studying relationships. Framed by relational dialectics theory and examined using Baxter’s newly developed contrapuntal analysis, a dominant discursive struggle of romanticized versus pragmatic reconnection emerged. The discourse of romanticized reconnection emerged from two themes: (a) desire for physical resemblance and (b) immediate connection. Three themes constituted the discourse of pragmatic reconnection: (a) birth family as strangers, (b) desire for health information, and (c) connection not guaranteed. In addition, a hybrid utterance surfaced providing evidence of a phenomenon where new meanings are likely to emerge.
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December 2013
This article was originally published in
Qualitative Communication Research
University of California Press