The intrapersonal and interpersonal dynamics of a ‘successful’ open adoption relationship between two mothers? A psychosocial pilot study.

Abstract or Summary

This paper discusses a pilot study that explored factors that contribute to a successful relationship between two women who are both ‘mother’ to the same child, in this case through open adoption. The research design was based on Hollway and Jefferson’s (2000; 2009) psychosocial approach, which explores both discursive and psychic aspects of interviewees’ talk. Hollway and Jefferson pay careful attention to the defences employed by people through the gaps and incongruences in their talk. It was expected that relationships between two mothers would potentially pose a psychic threat to their identities, specifically their investment in motherhood and family. How they would manage this threat and the discourses they invested in was the research aim. The paper discusses the process of changing the framework for analysis from a focus on psychic defences to one of openness to other adapting Bateman and Fogarty’s (2006) processes of mentalization