Invisibilized Women: The Affective Experience of Giving a Child up for Adoption

Abstract

The Judiciary mediates child placement for adoption since the implementation of the Law 12.010 of 2009, which amended the Child and Adolescent Statute. This research aimed to analyze this experience from the women´s perspective. The qualitative methodology was chosen, with the use of the oral history, through semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Participated in this research four women who gave their children up for adoption, whose process occurred at Childhood and Youth Court in a town located in the countryside of Paraná. The data was analyzed in three axes: 1) the institution of motherhood; 2) the control exercised on this experience; and 3) the affective consequences of women's invisibility. As a result, it was possible to understand that the affections experienced by the participants are multiple: regret, suffering, and self-censorship, but also potentializing inclinations, such as joy, care, and the hope for a future meeting with the child. At the end of the study, we concluded that sustaining the diversity of affections manifested in such a delicate experience requires the training of professionals who are attentive and sensitive to human diversity.