This article focuses on how intercountry adoptees use social media and technology to negotiate and facilitate reunion with their birth families. The qualitative data were drawn from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with eleven adoptees who were internationally adopted to Ireland and have contact with their birth families using social media and technology. The findings from this interpretivist study demonstrate that social media and technology have significantly transformed and can now play a central role in reunion in intercountry adoption. They also suggest that social workers need to be aware of the emerging role of social media and technology in intercountry adoption reunion to develop further knowledge and skills in this area. Specifically, the study indicates that social media and technology have facilitated, ‘normalised’ and casualised aspects of contact with birth family; increased the pace of contact and can pose challenges in navigating contact and boundaries. A key finding of this study relates to the importance of contact with birth siblings and their potential role as mediators and facilitators of contact with birth parents. Participants report that whilst social media and technology have facilitated their contact with birth family, it cannot and does not replace the need for ‘real life’ in-person contact.

中文翻译：

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使用社交媒体和技术谈判跨国收养中的团圆

本文重点介绍跨国收养者如何使用社交媒体和技术与出生家庭进行谈判并促进其团圆。定性数据来自对11名被收养者的深入，半结构化访谈，这些收养者在国际上被爱尔兰收养，并使用社交媒体和技术与其出生家庭联系。这项解释主义研究的结果表明，社交媒体和技术已经发生了巨大变化，现在可以在跨国收养团聚中发挥核心作用。他们还建议社会工作者需要意识到社交媒体和技术在跨国收养团聚中的新兴作用，以发展该领域的进一步知识和技能。具体来说，该研究表明社交媒体和技术已经促进了 与出生家庭的联系的“正常化”和临时化方面；加快了联系速度，并可能在导航联系和界限方面带来挑战。这项研究的关键发现涉及与同胞兄弟姐妹接触的重要性及其与亲生父母接触的调解者和促进者的潜在作用。参与者报告说，尽管社交媒体和技术促进了他们与出生家庭的联系，但它不能也不不能代替“现实生活”的亲身接触。