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ADOPTEE
An adopted person. Some adopted persons object to being called an
“adoptee” because:
(1) It distinguishes an adopted child from a birth child in the
same family. (One does not say, “This is my birth son, Johnny.”)
(2) It implies adoption is the central fact of that person's life
(which, of course, it may be). 1
ADOPTION
A court action in which an adult assumes legal and other responsibilities
for another, usually a minor. 1
Adoption is the act of establishing a person as parent to one who
is not in fact or in law his child. Adoption is so widely recognized
that it can be characterized as an almost worldwide institution
with historical roots traceable into antiquity. 2
Adoption was recognized by Roman law but not by common law. Statutes
first introduced adoption into U.S. law in the mid-19th cent., and
today it is allowed in all states of the United States and in Great
Britain. 3
In most ancient civilizations and in certain later cultures as well,
the purposes served by adoption differed substantially from those
emphasized in modern times. Continuity of the male line in a particular
family was the main goal of these ancient adoptions. The importance
of the male heir stemmed from political, religious, or economic
considerations, depending on the culture. The person adopted invariably
was male and often adult. In addition, the welfare of the adopter
in this world and the next was the primary concern; little attention
was paid to the welfare of the one adopted. 2
In contrast, contemporary laws and practices aim to promote child
welfare and are regarded as one facet of the state's general program
to protect its young. Although the desire to continue a family line
or to secure rights to inheritance are still among the personal
motives for adoption, society's interest now centres more on the
creation of a parent-child relationship between a married couple
and a young child. This attitude developed primarily in the period
following World War I, when vast numbers of children were orphaned,
and the number of illegitimate births increased. The desirability
of adoption was further emphasized by developments in psychology
and sociology that stressed the influence on child development of
a stable family life. In the latter part of the 20th century, a
decline in the number of children available for legal adoption stimulated
changes in traditional restrictions on adult-child age differential,
level of income, the mother's employment outside the home, and placements
across religious and ethnic lines. Single-parent adoptions were
accepted by a number of agencies. 2
In many cases children are adopted by relatives. Many states now
permit adoption by unmarried adults; some allow adoption by homosexual
couples. Most adoptions are of the same race. Transracial adoptions
are controversial, pitting issues of culture and heritage against
the need of a child for a stable parent-child relationship as early
in life as possible, regardless of race. The Multiethnic Placement
Act (1994) made it illegal for U.S. states to hold up adoptions
solely in order to match racial or ethnic background of the child.
3
In adoption by unrelated adults, the courts have traditionally attempted
to ease adjustment to the adoptive family and protect the privacy
of the (often unwed) mother by maintaining secrecy regarding the
child's birth parents. Since the 1970s, however, a growing number
of adopted children have attempted to identify their birth parents,
and "open adoption, in which adoptive and birth parents maintain
a relationship, has become more accepted. Questions of parental
rights and where these stand vis-Ã-vis the rights and best interests
of the child have also been highlighted in cases in which the courts
tranferred custody of adopted or fostered children to birth parents
who had previously given them up. 3
Many children are adopted through public or private agencies, but
a growing number are adopted through private placement, in which
the prospective adoptive parents advertise for or are otherwise
put into contact with a birth mother, usually with the help of a
lawyer who is familiar with the process and the legal requirements
of the individual states. As birth control and abortion have become
more available and as the stigma formerly attached to unwed motherhood
has lifted, fewer infants have been put up for adoption, making
it increasingly difficult for prospective parents to find young
children to adopt. In many cases, parents have adopted babies from
outside the United States, particularly South Korea, and Mexico
and other Latin American countries, but the increased demand has
also been accompanied by black-market adoption arrangements. In
1980 the U.S. Congress passed the Adoption Assistance and Child
Welfare Act to give support to foster families who adopt and to
families who adopt children with disabilities. 3
ADOPTION TRIAD
The three major parties in an adoption: birth parents, adoptive
parents, and adopted child. Also called “adoption triangle”
or “adoption circle.” 1
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