Abstract

PENA, Mariela. ‘The child was waiting for us’. Rev.latinoam.cienc.soc.niñez juv [online]. 2016, vol.14, n.1, pp.445-461. ISSN 1692-715X.  https://doi.org/10.11600/1692715x.14130130415.

Currently in Argentina many families are formed through the adoption of children. These relationships are expressed in a parenting language involving meanings, values, and specific practices that are modified over time. The author enquires about the processes through which the child is incorporated into the new family group, using information taken from fieldwork with couples that have adopted children during the last decade in Buenos Aires. This article explores their stories related to the "meeting" the adoptive child, the concepts of belonging and the understanding of their "past" family ties. The author concludes that there are certain similarities with ethnographic studies in other contexts and, at the same time, proposes tensions and local connotations regarding the purpose of these families in providing their connections with legitimacy and "veracity".

Keywords : childhood; children; family; kinship; adoption; adoptive family; life history.

        · abstract in Spanish | Portuguese     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )