Mediated contact reflections on a piece of after-adoption intermediary practice.
Adoption & Fostering › Vol. 30 Nbr. 4, December 2006
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Mediated contact reflections on a piece of after-adoption intermediary practice.
Although professional intermediary work to facilitate contact between people separated by adoption is a common aspect of after-adoption work, relatively little light has been cast on the nuances of this sensitive area of practice. Hitherto a service mainly used by adopted people seeking contact with their birth relatives, it is anticipated that there will be growing numbers of people seeking the help of intermediaries as a result of the Adoption and Children Act (2002) which, from January 2006, has extended official tracing and contact services to birth relatives. This article by Gary Clapton combines a practice account of intermediary work with a critical review of the literature on the use of intermediaries. It seeks to bring together what has been publicly written about best practice and identify questions in need of further discussion.
Key words: after adoption, intermediary, contact Introduction In light of the recent commencement of the provisions in section 98 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 that extend tracing and contact services to birth relatives, a more public discussion needs to begin about the practice and role of intermediaries in after-adoption work. Although agencies have been active in this field for many years, this is not reflected in the sparse body of published literature. For instance, NORCAP's booklet, Searching for Family Connections, has been updated several times since its publication in 1983 yet carries only one page on intermediary services. This undoubtedly fails to reflect the training materials, advice and guidance available to the public and professionals from agencies such as NORCAP [now NORCAP--Adults Affected by Adoption]. While the Review of Adoption Law (Department of Health, 1992) sparked a rise in interest and the passage of the Adoption and Children Bill in 2001 and 2002 drew forth debate on intermediary services, few of these discussions have been written up or are readily available. What follows is an exploration of the literature on intermediary practice interleaved with a diary-...See the full content of this document
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