Literature Review
The beginnings of adoption
Prior to the Adoption of Children Act 1926, the process of adoption had no regulation or governing law. Child adoption was an informal and generally secretive procedure which left adoptive parents with no rights, meaning that a biological parent remained their legal guardian (Keating, 2008). Meaning that children living as family with people who were not their parents still remained the legal responsibility of their birth parents. This resulted in a demand for custody, of a child, regardless of the length of time spent outside of the biological parent(s)’ care. This lack of formality also meant that there were no records of adoption preceding 1927.
The increasing number of ‘illegitimate’ children,
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Throughout the act, the child is referred to as the ‘infant’ and this encompasses any that is person under the age of twenty-one (s 1(2)). Nevertheless, the parameters were restricting as, under the Adoption of Children Act 1926, a court had no power to make an adoption order in respect of a child who was not a British subject and this act applied only to England and Wales - although a similar Act applicable to Scotland was passed in 1930 (Roll, 2001). An adoption order would also not be made without the consent of the mother, where this was regarded as a crucial part of the act. This was to ensure that “mothers were not compelled by extraneous circumstances into relinquishing their children permanently when a temporary respite was all that was needed in reality” (Bridge & Swindells, 2003:5). If a mother was consenting to an adoption, it was deemed that she was willingly relinquishing her care of the ‘infant’. A further limitation being that the rights transferred being restricted to only those relating to the custody of the child. An adoption under this Act “affected no rights of property or succession for the adopted child and no rights on the intestacy of the new family” (Bridge & Swindells,
Adoption is a process that has in the past been and still today remains quite
During the 1980’s and to the mid 1990’s, the provision for looked after children underwent a massive overhaul. After the abuse and deaths of another three children in the early 80‘s, a number of parliamentary reports led to the development of The Children Act 1989. This act “marked a watershed in legislation on children” and “tried to balance two sets of contradictory pressures; greater child protection with greater parental rights” (Glennerster, 2007). Also, an alarming number of reports into institutional abuse of children in care in the1990‘s came to light, and following a frenzied media coverage, and yet another public outcry, the government commissioned Sir William Utting, Chief Inspector of the Social Services Inspectorate to
This resulted in the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (Butler & Hickman, 2011, p. 133), which was designed to encourage adoption for poor children.
Child Act 1989- “the Children Act 1989 aimed to ensure that the welfare of the child was paramount, working in partnership with parents to protect the child from harm” http://www.careandthelaw.org.uk/eng/b_section2 appendix 3
Similar cases occurred in the 1960’s and 1970’s which ultimately resulted in the ICWA Act. In a similar situation a young man and woman had the same problem and the pregnant mother in question pursued the father to relinquish his rights (which he did) and the mother was cared for by the adoptive parents during her pregnancy (starting by the 4th month) until childbirth when the baby was legally adopted by the adoptive parents. Similar to this case which occurred in 2011 the young man in question did not agree that his daughter would be given up for adoption but only claimed that he had agreed to give up parental rights but the relationship of blood could not be terminated nor denied. In many of these cases from the era prior to ICWA the baby was taken from the adoptive parents and returned to her “rightful home since the relationship of parent could not be
The implementation of the ASFA certainly carries many strengths with its amendments to the AACWA, including a title using “the term ‘safe families’ that few people would want to oppose legislation with this goal” (Jansson, 2008). One of the strengths of the new law was its movement away from bias favoring reunification that the AACWA once carried, and the placing of emphasis on child safety. Another strength was the change from selective provision of services to universal provision of services, where all special needs children would receive health coverage, regardless of whether or not they were a Title IV-E adoption. The switch to annual judicial permanency planning hearings was also an
To understand some of these issues, the focus will primarily be directed towards how the law views same-sex adoptions. An analysis will compare and contrast on the upbringing of children who have been adopted and the
“I want to be like my adoptive mother, but my birth mother says I’m like her. I don’t know what to do or who I am. My whole life is messed up. It’s not my fault. It can’t be fixed,” said a girl adopted into an open adoption (Byrd). An open adoption is a process in which the birth parents and the adoptive parents know each other and are involved in the adopted child’s life. A closed adoption is when there is no contact at all and no identifying information is given between birth and adoptive parents (Byrd). While both are common to today’s society, closed adoptions allow opportunities for the adoptive parents to raise their kids without the interference of birth parents (Bender).
“Parliaments and their members can and should be among the foremost champions of child protection. They can legislate, oversee government activity, allocate financial resources and, as leaders within their nations and communities, raise awareness of issues and provide advocacy.”
Adoption did not emerge as the preferred system of child care in the early nineteenth century because elite families with whom the children were placed often treated them as servants rather than family members. Most significantly, Porter finds that rather than the happy, successful adoption outcomes often portrayed by those favoring adoption, 20 percent of adopted children had negative family experiences. (Carp 3-4)
Adoption is the act or fact of adopting or being adopted; to legally take another’s child or bring up as one’s own. When a child is adopted, that child moves permanently from one family to another family. In the process, all parental rights are legally transferred to the new parents. This means adoptive parents have the same rights and responsibilities as parents whose children were born to them. It also means adopted children have all the emotional, social, legal, and familial benefits of biological children.
The birth of a girl has never been a cause for celebration in China, and
Adoption is metamorphosing into a radical new process that is both sweeping the nation and changing it. But this process is not an easy one, there are many steps to go through. Through research it is made a lot easier. Adoption is a also a highly visible example of a social institution that has benefits from and been reshaped by both the Internet and the exponential growth of alternative lifestyles, from single to transracial to gay. It is accelerating our transformation into a more multicultural society; even as it helps redefine out understanding of “family.” The process includes three main steps including a type of adoption, the techniques for location a baby for adoption, arranging
In the last four decades, the concept of the American family has undergone a radical transformation, reflecting society¡¯s growing openness. Among all segments of society, there is a greater acceptance of a variety of family structures ¨C from single parenting to blended families to same sex parenting of children. The introduction of openness into the process of adoption offers new opportunities for children in need of a parent or parents and prospective parents wishing to create or expand their families. Meeting the requirements to become eligible to adopt no longer means being constrained by the conventions of an earlier generation.
The legal and social transfer of all parental right, responsibilities, and roles from one parent or parents, usually biological, to a nonbiological parent or parents is the definition of