Seven Core Issues in Adoption and Permanency

Based on a hugely successful US model, the Seven Core Issues in Adoption is the first conceptual framework of its kind to offer a unifying lens that was inclusive of all individuals touched by the adoption experience.

The Seven Core Issues are Loss, Rejection, Shame/Guilt, Grief, Identity, Intimacy, and Mastery/Control. The book expands the model to be inclusive of adoption and all forms of permanency: adoption, foster care, kinship care, donor insemination and surrogacy. Attachment and trauma are integrated with the Seven Core Issues model to address and normalize the additional tasks individuals and families will encounter.

The book views the Seven Core Issues from a range of perspectives including: multi-racial, LGBTQ, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, African-American, International, openness, search and reunion, and others. This essential guide introduces each Core Issue, its impact on individuals, offering techniques for growth and healing.

Allison Davis Maxon LMFT is the Chief Operating Officer at the National Center on Adoption and Permanency. She has 26 years of adoption practice in child welfare, foster care and mental health. She is a curriculum developer and Master Trainer based in California, USA.

Sharon Roszia, MS, is a Consultant at the National Center on Adoption and Permanency, and was the developer of the Seven Core Issues in Adoption and Permanency in 1988. She has 55 years of adoption clinical practice in the field of child welfare. She is a national and international trainer, as well as a curriculum developer. She is based in California, USA.