I am a lab rat for adoption research.
My parents signed us up for this longitudinal study on adoption, and so, for as long as I can remember, I have been participating in the Minnesota Texas Adoption Research Project (MTARP). As a counseling professional, it is kind of trippy to be working on compiling information to give for presentations or papers for grad school and using some of the findings from past MTARP publications. Because, isn’t that a little like citing myself?
I’m not going to bore you with all their mumbo jumbo details, but I do remember clearly receiving the call in my early 20’s to participate in the study again as an adult. I had just reunited with my half-sister on Myspace (of all places) and we had struck up an online relationship. I can still remember chatting with the researcher about my reasoning for reunion, and my feelings about my adoptive family. Just this past year I was asked, again, to participate and gave much different answers about my reasons. I hope this is reflected in the research.
boof & monk-monk 