The thesis focuses on the parents' experiences with national and international adoptions. I wanted to discover what challenges adoptive parents faced during the adoption process, as well as in their family life after adoption, which emotions and feelings they experienced, what help and support they received during the adoption process and after the process was completed, and possible forms of help and support that would be closest to them. I also wanted to find out the advantages and disadvantages of national adoptions compared to international adoptions based on the experiences of parents who have adopted a child. I interviewed parents who adopted a child nationally or internationally to obtain this information. During the adoption process, the interviewees encountered challenges related to the social work centre. In their family life, they mainly faced challenges related to upbringing and the environment's reaction, but they also highlighted school problems. The adoptive parents encountered different emotions and feelings, for example, doubt and feelings of fulfilment. They received help and support mainly from family, friends, other adoptive parents and Društvo Deteljica. As desired forms of help and support, the interviewees stated free adoption preparations and a continuing international adoption process. The interviewees recognized the small number of children available for national adoption as the main disadvantage of national adoptions, while they recognized a well-defined adoption procedure as an advantage. The interviewees considered the disadvantages of international adoption demanding and lengthy procedures, being left to one's own devices, etc. As advantages, they noted a sense of greater accessibility due to the small number of children available for national adoption.
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