What Factors Contribute to a Successful Adoption Experience?

Have you, or someone you know, adopted a child in the past 5 years? With three adopted younger siblings, adoption is special to me, too. My name is Erica Raisanen, and I am a doctoral student at the University of Southern Mississippi. I am studying the experiences and resiliency of adoptive parents in hopes to gain a better understanding of factors that contribute to a successful adoption experience. I hope to collect information that will help to improve counseling interventions aimed at preparing, and assisting, adoptive parents for, and with, adoptive parenthood. *I am looking for parents who: ▪Have participated in at least one legal adoption (not a kinship adoption) since 2006 ▪Have at least one adopted child currently age 17 or younger ▪Have not previously participated in this study ▪Have not had a significant other already participate in this study Will you contribute and help me make a difference for adoption? If you or someone you know meet the criteria for this project, please consider participating in or spreading the word about my research project. Your privacy is important to us so all responses will be anonymous. Please visit the link below by either clicking on it or copying and pasting it into your web browser. [url]http://www.psychsurveys.org/erica_raisanen/successful_adoption_experience[/url] It should take about 30 minutes, and you may choose to discontinue participation at any time. For every survey completed, a $1 donation will be made to The Gift of Adoption Fund, which helps adoptive parents fund their adoptions via grants. The University of Southern Mississippis Institutional Review Board has approved this study. If you have any questions, please contact the primary researcher, Erica Raisanen, by phone at 601-297-3403 or via e-mail erica.raisanen@eagles.usm.edu or my faculty supervisor, Dr. Bonnie Nicholson via e-mail bonnie.nicholson@usm.edu or by phone at 601-266-4598. Thank you very much for your time and consideration in participating in or spreading the word about my research project. *Please consider helping me get the word out about my research project by reposting or sharing this message on your facebook page, emailing others you know who may be able to help spread the word, or posting to any other online website you may have. I would greatly appreciate your help with my project. Sincerely, Erica Raisanen Counseling Psychology Doctoral Student The University of Southern Mississippi