"None of the parents ever says we shouldn't have gone," Ms Marian Connolly says. "You never hear that."
She is one of the co-founders of the Irish branch of the Parent Network for the Post-Institutionalised Child.
Its function is to provide information and advice to families who have been adopting children for the past 10 years or so, taking them from conditions of great deprivation in institutions, whether in Russia, Romania or China.
The early deprivation and bad experiences suffered by children in the worst of the institutions leaves many psychological and physical scars - but a growing body of evidence suggests that they can make remarkable progress when adopted.
In Britain, Prof Michael Rutter this year reported dramatic and, in some cases, spectacular improvement in 111 children adopted from Romanian orphanages, who had been with adoptive parents for four years or more.
Profs Ann and Alan Clarke of the University of Hull, who have been studying the effects of childhood deprivation on later development since the late 1950s, wrote recently in The Psychologist that many children badly deprived in their early years could recover "in the context of a new, caring environment".
Helping a child to overcome the early deprivation, however, is no easy task. "Parents of very young children adopted from institutions usually find that their child is quiet, unemotional and less reactive than other children of the same age," according to a briefing document from PNPIC.
"They are relatively compliant and co-operative. But suddenly, at some point, they get wildly overactive. Some parents report that the problems do not begin until the child is 3 to 4 years old. Once given the chance to laugh, cry, make noise, throw toys, and so on they do. Frustration leads to tantrums and aggressive behaviour or withdrawal to an internal world."
Helping the child to attain normality is hugely demanding on families but Ms Connolly says Irish adoptive families have risen gladly to the demands.
"The experience of adopting a child from an institution has been very positive, from parents that we have spoken to both here and abroad. When asked if they would change anything the answer is always `never'. But we would like to have had more information on the effects of institutionalisation."
PNPIC Ireland can be contacted at 01- 8411530, email pnpicireland@tinet.ie