Abstract: This qualitative study examined the parenting experience of seven participants who adopted children with histories of abuse. Goals were: (a) to explore the dynamics of this phenomenon from the parents' perspectives, (b) to explore the role of the participants' own working models of attachment in three domains (childhood, adult romantic and adult close friend relationships), and (c) to develop possible intervention strategies for families distressed by the experience and thereby at risk for adoption disruption or dissolution. Seven adoptive parents completed semi-structured interviews about their experiences; these were analyzed for thematic content using the Constant Comparative Method (Maykut and Morehouse, 1994). They also completed modified versions of three self-report questionnaires examining their conscious working models of childhood, adult romantic and adult close friendship attachments: (a) the Attachment History Questionnaire (Kessler & Pottharst, 1983), (b) the Attachment Style Questionnaire (Feeney, Holler & Hanrahan, 1994) and (c) the Relationship Questionnaire and Relationship Scales Questionnaire composite (Bartholomew, 2002), respectively. These were analyzed in a continuous rather than categorical manner. Also, portions of the interviews were analyzed for the unconscious working models of the participants' relationships with their own parents using the discourse correlates of the Adult Attachment Interview (George, Kaplan & Main, 1985) although the measure itself was not administered. While participants reported significant difficulties in their relationships with their adopted children, they felt the experiences to have made them better parents than they were prior to the adoptions. Participants reported relatively secure attachment relationships in both childhood and adulthood, but threads of insecurity throughout their attachment protocols appeared to be problematic in the parenting of their adoptive children. One such difficulty was a high need for self-reliance and independence, making it quite difficult for the parents to ask for help. Several expressed regret and the belief that, had they sought professional help earlier (or at all) when experiencing significant problems in parenting their adoptive children, these relationships might have been characterized by greater closeness and understanding. Based on the thematic material and researcher's clinical impressions, guidelines for social and therapeutic service delivery to families adopting children with pre-adoptive histories of abuse were generated. An important therapeutic intervention for family systems that become significantly distressed after the adoption of an abused child involves attempting to increase the reflective functioning of all family members (Fonagy, 1999). Psychoeducation, both to families and social systems (adoption agencies, schools, juvenile justice), addressing the relationship between abuse and attachment was also recommended.