From strangers to families?: Post-reunion kin relationships in Spanish-Nepali adoptions

Abstract

There has been a growing body of literature focusing on adoptees’ experiences of searching for their origins and of initial contact, reunion, and post-reunion with birth relatives since the 2000s. However, the subsequent relationships that develop (or do not develop) have been less explored. Drawing on research with Spanish adopted people from Nepal, this article examines how adoptees and their birth families forge relationships after reuniting. Our analysis shows three different ways that adoptees understand their relationship with their birth relatives: they may consider them to be “family”, they may navigate from strangeness to familiarity, or they may perceive the birth family as “strangers”. Our findings suggest lasting relationship rely on factors beyond those typically emphasized in Western kinship models. We argue for incorporating the possibility that sharing biological ties does not guarantee a long-term connection after the reunion.