Call for Chapters - The Pursuit of Parenthood: Fostering and Adoption

Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research (CPFR), an annual series focusing on cutting-edge topics in family research around the globe, is seeking manuscripts for a special volume titled: The Pursuit of Parenthood: Fostering and Adoption. 

For many prospective parents, pregnancy and childbearing may not be viable nor appealing choices, leaving those who wish to become parents to pursue adoption, fostering, or both. Adoption is a legal path to parenthood in most countries, but the path can be challenging. Likewise, becoming a foster parent is also an option, as this can provide both parents and children with a sense of family. For adults, adoption and fostering require patience, perseverance, and the desire to be a parent. For children, adoption and fostering represent a chance to “belong” and to feel secure. The factors leading to adoption and fostering are many, and those involved go through a wide range of experiences. 

In order to gain a better understanding of these experiences, this multidisciplinary volume of CPFR will examine fostering and adoption from a variety of perspectives. We seek empirical, theoretical, along with practice and policy-oriented manuscripts that cover a wide array of topics including foster family relationships, placement stability, kinship care, long-term foster care, older youth in foster care and adoption placements, foster parent engagement, birth family involvement and contact, transnational and transracial adoption, adoption arrangements, the transition to adoptive parenthood, attachment, child and family adjustment, parenting programs, and interventions for foster and adoptive families, among others. 

Submission guidelines

Manuscripts should be limited to approximately 40 double spaced pages (not including tables, figures, and references), adhere to APA format, and submitted as MS WORD documents. Include an abstract of 150-200 words at the beginning of the manuscript. Siri Wilder of Whittier College (USA), Ioana Podarita of Whittier College (USA), Christina Scott of Whittier College (USA), and Sampson Lee Blair of The State University of New York (USA) will serve as editors for the upcoming volume. Please submit manuscripts directly to the editors ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]). All manuscript submissions should be original work. Manuscript submission to this call for papers implies a commitment to publishing with CPFR. All manuscripts will undergo peer review, and there are no fees. 

The deadline for initial submissions is September 10, 2026. Any questions may be directed to the editors at [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected].