This study examined child fostering practices in Bayelsa State as a way of
understanding the influence of socio-economic and cultural factors on critical family
decisions. Functionalism, Social Action and Rational Choice perspectives provided the
theoretical anchor upon which the thematic phenomenon was discussed. Quantitative
data were collected from 408 questionnaire respondents. Six In-depth Interviews (IDIs)
and two Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted among biological and
foster parents. The mean age of the respondents was 32.5±10.8 years. More than half
of the respondents had negative perception about child fosterage; poverty, desire to
have children enrolled in school, effective training of fostered children, death of
parents, and marital separation are implicated in the decision by families to have their
children fostered. Despite the influence of modernism, the practice has remained virile
in Bayelsa state due to persistent high fertility, poverty and its traditional and symbolic
significance among other reasons.