Preventing disruption of special needs adoptions.

The incidence of adoption disruptions is much higher in special-needs adoptions than in infant adoptions. This article reports the results of an analysis of differences in functioning between families able to sustain special-needs placements and families in which they disrupted. The finding is that the father plays a pivotal role in maintaining these placements. If he is actively involved in parenting, and able to nurture and support the mother in her role, placements are more likely to be sustained.