The important link between life journey work and contact with birth family, siblings and important people.

Contact is an integral part of ongoing life journey work. Direct or indirect contact gives the child real, meaningful information about their origins and prevents gaps in their life story as they grow - by giving the child and their adoptive family up to date information on their birth family and other important people in the child's life. The resources in this section will support you in understanding the important link between contact and life journey work.

Factsheets on Contact and Life Journey Work

Downloadable resources below:

Download: Fact Sheet – Why Letterbox Contact Matters
Download: Factsheet – No LB contact and curiosity in LJW
Download: Factsheet – When a child does not want to send letterbox

Research on Life Journey Work and Contact

These two key pieces of research explore important aspects of adoption and Life Journey Work. The first considers the importance of communicative openness in adoption, drawing on the perspectives of adoptive parents and adopted young people. The second explores maintaining relationships with birth families after adoption, from the perspective of adopted adults.

Each study is accompanied by a summary highlighting its key findings, alongside the full research document.

Research 1: Communicative Openness About Adoption