The Lived Experiences of Domestic Child Adopting Parents in Gondar Town, Northwestern Ethiopia

Abstract

IntheAmharaNationalRegionalStatetherearemanychildrenwhoareabandonedwhoneedtobe adoptingdomesticallyandsupported.Thedearthofresearchconductedinthetopicandmotivation toaddsomeadditionalknowledgeontheconditionofdomesticadoptingparentsistherationalfor selectingthetopic.Therefore,thepurposeofthisstudywastoinvestigatethebenefits,challenges andcopingmechanismsofdomesticadoptingparentsinGondarTown.Themainobjectiveofthe researcherwastoexplorethelivedexperiencesofdomesticchildadoptingparents.Inorderto achievetheobjectiveofthestudy,theresearcheremployedqualitativeresearchapproaches.This enablestheresearchertodevelopalevelofdetailabouttheindividualtobehighlyinvolvedinactual experienceoftheparticipants.Theresearcherusedcasestudyresearchdesignwhichhelpsto deeplystudyaphenomenonlikebenefits,challengesandcopingmechanismsofdomesticadopting parents.Theprimarysourceofdatawascollectedfrom thein-depthinterview withseven participantsselectedusingsnowballsamplingtechniques,keyinformantinterviewwithtwoselected organizations.Thefindingsinthestudyareanalyzedthematicallyandtheresultshowsthatthere aresometypesofbenefitsthatchildadoptingparentwerereceivingfromeachcategoryofbasic needs,monthlyincome,houserent,daycareservicesandpsychosocialserviceseventhoughthey arenotsufficientlyprovidedbyinstitutionalchildcaresystem.Theresearchfindingalsoindicated thatregardlessofchallenges,suchaslackoffood,lackofpropereducation,lackofpropermedical treatment,andlackoffreedom forreligious,lackofgoodhomemanagement,andpresenceof unqualifiedprofessionalworkers,neglect,andinadequatecaregiver-child.Additionally,domestic child adopting system should beclear,challengesshould bemanaged significantly,legal frameworksregardingtodomesticadoptionshouldberevised.Moreover,asthestudy’sunitof analysisareonlylimitedtodomesticadoptingparents.