This study is about four women who decided to adopt internationally while being a single
mother. This article follows the experiences and personal stories of four women to find out why
they decided to become single mothers and adopting. Being a single mother is not only a part of
the growing population, but it is also harder to be a single mother and to adopt. There are many
factors that come into place and some of those factors could be the mothers’ income and
responsibility, stress, and the child-parent relationships. In most families, the father is the
protector, head of the household, and main financial supporter for the child and the mother, but
by being a single mother, they take on the responsibilities of both the father and the mother. The
mother would be the protector, head, financial supporter, and the caregiver.
The data from this study came from four adopting mothers who were white, educated,
between 39 and 47 years of age, and who adopted a daughter from China. These four women
were originally in a group of ten, but the other six became mothers through childbirth and not
adoption so they were not included in the study. One lady named Dawn, who was one of the four
women of this study, is a 47 years old single mother with two adoptive Chinese girls whose
concern was bringing a child in a father less home. Another lady named Mandy had a concern
about difficulties with having a baby of a different race and culture. The third lady is named
Pamella and she talks about becoming satisfied becoming a mother. The fourth lady is named
Cara and she talks about support from family and friends.
During this study, they found four different situations regarding the mother and child. (1)
the mothers struggled bringing a child into a fatherless house (2) the mothers had fears of having
a child in public from a different country (3) they were satisfied of becoming a mother and (4)
they found support from their family and friends. Each of the four mothers had a different
experience from one another, but they are all the same in being a single mother with and adopted
child.
Based on the findings in this study the authors concluded that the interviews they had
with the four women brought in a different aspect into the life of being a single mother. The
studies showed that just because some women chose to be single does not mean that they should
not have a family or children. This study showed that there is no shame of being a single mother
because they are helping change a child’s life forever.
