The following was reproduced from the College of Education & Human Development University of Minnesota website: 2009Jan15

The Minnesota / Texas Adoption Research Project (MTARP) is a longitudinal research study that focuses on the consequences of variations in openness in adoption arrangements for all members of the adoptive kinship network: birthmothers, adoptive parents, and adopted children, and for the relationships within these family systems.

The study is significant for a number of reasons. It is:

• National in scope
• Has followed participants for over 20 years
• Involves a sample (720 individuals) much larger than other adoption studies that employ interview methods and home visits
• Includes the full range of adoptive openness, including cases in which contact has stopped, some in which contact continues, and others in which it has increased or decreased over time, allowing for tracking of trajectories of openness over time
• Includes data from all triad members
• Includes data about adoption agency practices and policies to contextualize the work
• Has significant implications for legal and policy issues concerning adoption in the United States today

For more information about the project, key findings, research design, research team, MTARP publications, adoption links, and more please view the following website:

http://cehd.umn.edu/fsos/Centers/mtarp/