This is just one example of the numerous ways in which research on what makes a good adoptive parent is often hampered by good intentions and cultural taboos, according to the experts I interviewed. People like to think about adoptive parents as moral people who are doing a good thing and who should not be told they could be doing it better. And they like to believe that parental love is salve enough to solve all problems. So they don"t want to hear that, despite being loved unconditionally, an adoptive child can still struggle.