Open Adoption : A Growing Trend

There are 81.5 million Americans that have considered adoption. So that is 1 in 500 people. And the United States is the country that adopts more kids than any other country. And 40% percent of the kids adopted are from a

Adoption is defined as the “act by which an adult formally becomes the guardian of a child and incurs the rights and responsibilities of a parent.” (Legal Information Institute, 2015). The first legislation ACT to govern legal adoptions was made in Western Australia in 1896 at a peak of high infanticide and infant mortality rates. Since then, new legislations have been made across each state and adoption rates have been increasing steadily. However, as indicated by a series of National Data collected by the Australian Government, following the peak of almost 10,000 adoptions between 1970 and 1971, there has been a sharp decline in adoption rates. Over the last decade specifically, there has been a low and steady rate of 400-600 adoptions per

Adoption is the process in which a person takes over the parenting of someone else’s child and permanently transfers all the responsibilities and rights from the biological parent or parents. Giving up a child for adoption is a very difficult decision for a mother to make. Today, many children are being parented by a single parent, a grandparent, a stepparent, foster parent or other parent figure. Making adoption an option is done by providing loving, responsible, and legally permanent parents to a child when their biological parents are not able or will not take care of them.(Carter)

“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).

According to the April 2016 article, Worldwide Children Statistics, there is estimated to be 140 million children who are orphans. The article also states that children represent almost half of the people living in extreme poverty. Because of this information people struggle with the idea that adoption is hard, and anyone can easily understand why. Adoption isn’t necessarily a talked about issue on the news, magazines, or on social media, so who’s to blame if no one knows that less children and young teens are being adoptive each year, or that according to the CDC’s (Center for Disease and Control Prevention) March 2017 article, that there are 15 abortions per 1,000 women ages 15-44 per year. There are several common protocols that occur when trying to adopt. Family members and adoptive parents should be aware and knowledgeable of the warning signs of adoption, the top five

4). In the scope of adoption, it is evident that child welfare agencies use the majority of their available resources for placing children in foster families, investigating child-abuse cases, and providing other family services. “As a consequence, they do not possess adequate additional resources for efficiently placing children in adoptive homes once they are available for adoption, depriving many children of the benefits a stable, permanent home provides” (Snell, 2000, p. 2). The current government operated child welfare system is detrimental to the children involved due to its inability to ensure their safety and

Many factors are given weight in the decision to allow a child to be adopted such as socio-economic status, marital status, age, health and the ability for a child to integrate in to the perspective parent’s life (The Free Dictionary, n.d.). Within the adoption process there are two primary types: closed adoptions and open adoptions (Family Education, 2016). A closed adoption is where there is no contact between the adopters and the birth parents putting the child up for adoption. Also known as a confidential adoption it is performed through an intermediary who is responsible for all communication such as an attorney (Family Education, 2016). There is also no contact between the adopted child and his or her biological parents later in life without court intervention. The other avenue of adoption perused more commonly now is an open adoption where the adopters and birth parents are in full communication through out the process (Family Education, 2016). Adoption has gone through an evolution where previously closed adoptions were heavily favored; open adoptions are now becoming more common practice. In the United States on five states currently give adoptees uninhibited access to their adoption records (Fair, 2008:

Adoption in America been ruled by a stigma. For much too long, those who could not have children, unwed mothers, and the children born out of wedlock have been shamed and humiliated. I believe it is time for these supposedly disgraceful ideas to go by the wayside, and we begin hold onto the idea that all families are beautiful things, no matter how they are composed or how they came about. There is no shame in being an infertile couple, an unwed mother, or a child with unwed parents.

Some assert that an adoption is not open unless there is direct person-to-person contact among the birth parents, adoptive parents, and the child who was adopted, with full disclosure of last names and addresses (Melina and Rosiza, 1993).” (Siegel) For many, open adoption is a very loose term. This is because almost any amount of direct contact makes an adoption open. This can be by phone, mail (email or paper), or face-to-face contact. “The open communication, sometimes begins before placement and can continue through the adoptees lifetime.” (adoption.com) Open adoption is a term that is supposed to apply to many different arrangements that people may set up. All of these arrangements still involve the birth parents in one way or another in the child's life. The ideas that surround open adoptions are generally good or have good intentions. This is because the openness does not just extend to the birth mother. Some open adoption arrangements give other members of the birth mother's family opportunities too. So, for example, if the birth mother were to not want contact with the child this would allow other members of the family such as grandparents. The get the opportunity to meet the child. “The nurturing culture of a healthy open adoption system brings out the honor in people.” (Gritter) When big events happen that people cannot always understand people rects the best that they can. People have to make vital decisions that drastically affect others lives. At that moment people will inevitably show who they really are. For birth parents this is especially

Approximately five million Americans alive today are adoptees. Having the opportunity to adopt has given many families the chance to have a family on their own that they may not have been able to have before. Although it benefits the parents who are adopting it also helps the birth mother tremendously. There are several ways to adopt. Parents who want to adopt should choose the best option for them while birth mothers should be more educated so they can be sure to make the best decision for herself and her child.

This has caused me to want to further research the issue. What are the social and emotional effects that adoption has on children?

The necessity of adoption in the world is astounding. Currently, there is an estimated 143 million orphans worldwide (Wingert, vol.151). As of 2007, there were 513,000 children living in foster care within the United States alone (Rousseau 21:14). International adoption in the United States was jumpstarted post World War II as a way of helping those children who were left homeless, after war had taken their parents. Although there are thousands of healthy children awaiting adoption in the United States, several American couples still turn to foreign adoption when seeking potential children. Americans often fail to realize the need for intervention within their own country and their duty to take care of domestic affairs before venturing to

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.

When the average American citizen today thinks about the concept of adoption, what images are typically the first that come to mind? Although different people are sure to have equally as different experiences in this field, one picture continues to remain the most commonly-accepted. This image consists of a man and a woman who cannot have children of their own, a newborn baby, and a single mother who will certainly be unable to provide for the infant due to her young age, lack of financial support, or another variety of unfortunate circumstances. Making the decision to adopt a child is without a doubt one of the best options available for couples who are unable to conceive, but by thinking of adoption as nothing more than the fallback

     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