Chunk #7 — Overview of the early growth and development study — Recruitment methods — Recruitment of birth mothers, adoptive families, and birth fathers
Approximately 4 weeks postplacement, the agency liaison mailed a letter describing the study to adoptive families who met the inclusion criteria. A study brochure and a “no contact” postcard (for the adoptive family to return if they did not wish to be contacted) were included. Two weeks after the mailing, a liaison called each birth mother linked to an adoptive family that did not return a postcard. Once a birth mother had consented to being contacted by the study, a birth parent recruiter called her to invite her to participate in the study. After recruiting the birth mother, a separate recruiter contacted the adoptive family using the contact information provided by the agency and invited the family to participate. Once the birth mother and adoptive parents were recruited, a project staff member recruited the birth father using similar methods as were used in recruiting the birth mother. The EGDS has the largest sample of directly studied birth fathers in an adoption study and is the only study to assess birth fathers longitudinally; we have recruited and assessed birth fathers in 32% of our participating triads (n = 114).
