Adoption
Adoption is the legal act of permanently placing a child with a parent or parents other than the birth parents. Adoption results in the severing of the parental responsibilities and rights of the biological parents and the placing of those responsibilities and rights onto the adoptive parents. After the finalization of an adoption, there is no legal difference between biological and adopted children.
Different jurisdictions have varying laws on adoption and post-adoption. Some practice confidential or closed adoption, preventing further contact between the adopted person and the biological parents, while others have varying degrees of open adoption, which may allow such contact.
Table of contents |
Reasons for adoption
Many children are placed for adoption as a result of the biological parents' decision that they are unable to adequately care for a child. In some developing countries, where single parenthood may be considered scandalous and unacceptable, some women in this situation make an adoption plan for their infants. In some cases, they abandon their children at or near an orphanage, so that they can be adopted.
Some biological parents involuntarily lose their parental rights (called termination of parental rights or TPR in the United States). This usually occurs when the children are placed in foster care because they were abused, neglected or abandoned. After about 15 months, if the parents cannot resolve the problems that caused or contributed to the harm caused to their children (such as alcohol or drug abuse), a court may terminate their parental rights and the children may then be adopted.
In fiscal year 2001, 50,703 foster children were adopted in the United States, many by their foster parents or relatives of their biological parents. The enactment of the Adoption and Safe Families Act in 1997 has approximately doubled the number of children adopted from foster care in the United States.
Only a small percentage of adopted children are those orphaned because of the death of their biological parents.
In some cases, parents' rights have been terminated when their outgroup culture has been deemed unfit by the controlling government. Aboriginal Peoples in Australia were affected by such policies, as were Native Americans in the United States and Canada. Moreover, unwed mothers in many countries still are often pressured or forced by families, churches or governments into relinquishing their children for adoption. These practices of the past have become emotionally-charged social and political issues in recent years.
People make decisions to adopt for various reasons; however, the inability to produce a biological child is the most common reason. The most prevalent obstacle to producing a biological child is infertility. Another obstacle is the lack of a partner of the opposite sex or a lack of desire to use a surrogate or sperm donor. Gay and single people often adopt for this reason.
Some couples or individuals adopt children even though they are fertile. Some may choose to do this in order to avoid contributing to a perceived overpopulation problem; others may do so to avoid passing on undesirable genetic traits. In general, such people adopt children from other countries.
Adoption agencies
Adoption agencies can range from government-funded agencies that place children at little cost, to lawyers who arrange private adoptions, to international commercial and non-profit agencies. Adoptive parents can pay from nothing to US$40,000 for an adoption. Infants are more commonly sought than toddlers or older children, and many adoptive parents seek to adopt children of the same race. However, individuals adopting children from other countries, such as in Eastern Europe, should be aware of the ethnic diversity of the culture.
International adoption is becoming more popular with a perceived lower risk of birth family contact post-adoption and more young healthy children available than in major domestic adoptive countries. China is the leading country for American international adoptions.
One reason international adoption has become popular is that adopting parents are fearful of birth parents in the United States changing their mind about adoption. In addition, many U.S. adoption agencies encourage open adoptions, in which some adoptive parents do not wish to participate. Few international adoptions are open adoptions.
One problem with international adoptions is that unethical people see an opportunity to make a relatively high profit, in part because the costs of living are much lower than the adoptive parents' country. There are no firm numbers on illegal or unethical adoptions, as adoptive families are reluctant to publicize unethical adoptions, but several countries have closed following high profile trafficking and corruption cases, such as Romania and Cambodia.
Issues surrounding adoption
The number of children available for adoption inside Western nations have dropped considerably in recent years, partly because of the legalization of abortions, partly because of the increased acceptance of single parenthood, and partly because the US is becoming increasingly conservative and more people are opting to parent. When parents choose to place their child with adoptive parents, the process of separation is difficult for all parties.
It has been argued that children adopted through International adoptions, are best served when adoptive families commit to integrating the child's birth nation cultures, traditions, stories, languages and relationships. Some countries now require adoptive parents to keep the birth names of their adoptive children, and many adoptive parents choose to do this as it makes sense in helping their child develop a strong sense of self.
Another issue for prospective adoptive parents to be cognizant of is reactive attachment disorder (RAD). Many children, especially those beyond infancy in system care (e.g. foster, orphanage), domestic or foreign, develop this disorder due to the loss of the initial primary caregiver. A search on the internet for 'reactive attachment disorder' will expose much information and journals from parents dealing with RAD. The Attachment Center is an excellent resource.
Reunification
Many adopted people and biological parents who were separated by adoption have a desire to reunite. In countries which practice confidential adoption, this desire has led to efforts to open sealed records (for example, see Adoption reunion registry) and efforts to establish the right of adoptees to access their sealed records (for example, see Bastard Nation).
Adoptism
Adoptism is a prejudice against adoption defined by several beliefs:
- The belief that when there is a large market demand for babies and there are not enough true orphans to be found, parents who might otherwise keep their families together might be influenced to surrender their babies
- The belief that exploitation of other families to get babies for adoption is not a legitimate way to build a family
- The belief that children are harmed by removal from fit natural parents to be used for adoption
- The belief that mothers and fathers reproductive rights are denied by adoption, where "consent" is uninformed, unduly influenced or bypassed
- The belief that human beings must not be denied their heritage
- The belief that adoptees are affected throughout their lives by the loss of their natural family and by denial of their natural family as family. Succeeding generations are also affected. This denial is inherent in adoption.
- The belief that a mother (and father) should be encouraged to find ways to keep their family members together rather than to "choose" adoption and select prospective adopters prior to their child even being born
Positive adoption language
In most cultures, adoptive families face adoptism. Adoptism is made evident in English speaking cultures by the prominent use of negative or inaccurate language describing adoption. To combat adoptism, many adoptive families encourage positive adoption language.
|
Non-preferred: |
Preferred: |
Reason for preference: |
|---|---|---|
|
your own child |
birth child |
Saying a birth child is your own child or one of your own children implies that an adopted child is not. |
|
child is adopted |
child was adopted |
Some adoptees believe that their adoption is not their identity, but is an event that happened to them. ("Adopted" becomes a participle rather than an adjective.) Others contend that "is adopted" makes adoption sound like a disability to be overcome. |
|
give up for adoption |
place for adoption or make an adoption plan |
"Give up" implies a lack of value. The preferred terms are more emotionally neutral. |
|
real mother/father/parent |
birth mother/father/parent or |
The use of the term "real" implies that the adoptive family is artificial, and is not as descriptive. |
|
birth mother/father/parent |
natural mother/father/parent |
A contrary view to the above, especially held by those in Ireland who cared for their children before being forced to relinquish them to adoption, is that the term 'birth' mother implies that they only served as a brood mare when in fact they often raised and cared for their children for up to two years.[1] |
|
your adopted child |
your child |
The use of the adjective 'adopted' signals that the relationship is qualitatively different from that of parents to birth children. |
See also
External links
United States
- State Child Welfare Agency and Photolisting Web Pages (National Adoption Information Clearinghouse)
- State and Nationwide Adoption & Related Child Welfare Links (Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange)
- Adoption Photolisting Websites (National Adoption Center)
Canada
- Adoption Links (Adoption Council of Canada)
Categories: Adoption | Family law