Adoption Advocate
Prenatal Stress, Preverbal Trauma, and
Developmental Trajectories: The Importance of
the Attachment Relationship

The impact of prenatal stress and preverbal trauma on developmental trajectories is
both a topic of education and area of treatment focus in my clinical
practice. As a specialist in infant and early childhood development, as well as trauma
and attachment disorders, I often work with children who present with a variety of
surfacelevel symptoms that are, at their core, the effects of prenatal, preverbal,
or developmental trauma. I often discuss with parents the potential longterm
ramifications, and the hope and healing that arly intervention can bring.

It is always better for children and youth to remain with their birth families if it is safe to do so. When foster care is necessary, the goal is to provide a temporary safe, stable and nurturing environment for children and adolescents while actively seeking and supporting reunification with their families. A robust relationship between a child or youth’s birth parents and foster parents or kinship caregivers can help achieve this outcome and reduce trauma for everyone. These relationships are best nurtured when child welfare staff, parent partners, court and legal personnel, court advocates, foster parent organizations and other service providers are supportive and help facilitate early and ongoing communication.

This National Council For Adoption (NCFA) research report presents data on the number of adoptions in the United States in 2019 and 2020. Data on the
number of private domestic adoptions, intercountry adoptions, and adoptions from foster care are compiled in aggregate as well as at the state level, thus providing an estimate of the total number of adoptions in the United States.

This guide explains three different ways to help an adopted child born abroad become a lawful permanent resident (LPR) or a U.S. citizen.
Each process is distinct and has different eligibility requirements.

Searching for Birth Relatives
FACTSHEET FOR FAMILIES
May 2018
Methods for searching for birth relatives or an adopted child have changed dramatically in recent years. Previously, many adoptions were closed, meaning no contact occurred between the birth and adoptive families, and no identifying information was made available to the adoptive family or the person who was adopted. A social shift in the 1980s and 1990s toward open adoptions led to various levels of connection between the adoption triad (adoptee, birth parents, and adoptive parents), as well as extended family members and other important connections—sometimes called the adoption constellation. Today, adoption exists along a continuum from shared information to regular contact between the child and the birth parents or other family members.

This Resource Guide was developed by the Office
on Child Abuse and Neglect (OCAN) within the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s
Bureau, Child Welfare Information Gateway, and the
FRIENDS National Center for Community-Based Child
Abuse Prevention. OCAN released its first Resource
Guide more than 15 years ago with the goal of raising
awareness about emerging child abuse prevention
concepts. It was created primarily to support communitybased
service providers who work to prevent child
maltreatment and promote family well-being. However,
over the years many others—including policymakers,
health-care providers, program administrators, teachers,
child care providers, parent leaders, mentors, and clergy—have found the resources useful.