Adoption Term paper

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Adoption is an alternative way to have a family; it is a lifetime decision that should be made very cautiously. Adoption is a process where parents are supplied for children whose biological parents are deceased, or for those children whose biological parents are unable or unwilling to provide for their care. “Adoption creates a parent-child relationship recognized for all purposes including: child support obligations, inheritance rights and custody”(Aigner p 10). The children are provided for childless couples or individuals interested in becoming parents. “According to Dr. Ruth Mc. Roy at the UT School of Social work, there are approximately 5,000,000 US births each year. Out of that approximation 118,000 are adoptions.”


Adoption is traced back to the bible. It is known that the Pharaoh’s wife adopted Moses, and Jesus was even adopted by Joseph. Adoption even goes as far back as the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, and even the Babylonians.


There were guidelines for adoption written in the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, the oldest set of written laws, and the practice of adoption

Gradually became the institution of adoption, as the legal guidelines evolved through the Holy Roman Empire, the kingdoms of Europe and Asia,

and finally, the United States and the Americas.


It is recorded that Judaism and Christianity was founded on the idea of open adoption. Before 1850, there were no laws governing adoption. Kids would just be given away without any questions; it was economically motivated because of the circumstances that existed. People living in the city would give up their kids because they couldn’t afford to take care of their children. Farmers loved to receive them because they were able to make them help out on the farm. In 1850 adoption became legally recognized in the United States. The government began making minimal standards for adoption, hoping that the old way of adoption would die out. In 1851 the government made a law stating that you had to have consent from someone to adopt.

This process really did not help the adoption movement because it did not specify who was to give consent. In 1917, different states began to make more laws. For example, Minnesota required the intervention of the welfare department and recommendation from the court. Soon all states required that law.


The year 1928 began a period known as the Butter box Babies. A home was established to allow illegal trading between Canada and the United States. The home was operated by a couple named the Young’s. Parents brought their infants to the house. Depending on the way the infants looked the Young’s either starved them or sold them for big money. The children who died were placed in a box that was meant for dairy products and then buried. It is estimated that out of the sixteen hundred kids that came there, four to six hundred died and the others were sold. The babies were buried on the property across from a cemetery; some were even burned in the furnace.


Closed adoptions came about in 1938. It was also known as the “60 year experiment”, an experiment known for its failure. Closed adoptions are adoptions that seal the original birth certificate, leaving no chance in finding anything out about their natural parents.


When the baby boom period began there was a shortage of adoptable children for a childless couple, especially because of how hard it was to give up a child for adoption. This began what was known as the Black Baby Market. You could get an adoptee to be finalized by sealing the birth certificate. In 1955, this conspiracy was brought to light; the amount of money being made from the Black Market was incredibly high. Corrupt public officials declared mothers unfit so that they could get the profit from the baby. Doctors took babies and sold them if they weren’t able to pay off their hospital bill. Records were forged. Adoptive couples never knew if the adoption was legal or not. Committees started and led hearings for stricter controls on adoption. This led to the Uniform Adoption Act.


The uniform adoption act over alls states all requirements that have to be followed to adopt a child.


Since then laws were added to the Uniform Adoption Act and many different types of adoptions has come about. There are now five different types of Adoptions: Agency Adoptions, Private Placement adoption also called independent adoptions, Step Parent Adoption, International Adoption, and open agency adoption.


Agency Adoptions for the most part are free. They are funded through the state by federal taxes. Agency Adoptions are known to place infants and toddlers although their specialty is special needs children, children who were usually the victim of emotional, physical and or mental problems.


Private placement adoptions also known as independent adoptions are sometimes complicated. When choosing a private placement adoption you should check with the Better Business Bureau to see if it is legit. They should have a license and be approved by the state in which they operate. A private Placement adoption entails finding parents interested in putting up their child for adoption. Usually the birth mother is contacted. You can contact the birth mother or natural parents by looking in some newspaper. You can also send letters of your family to such places as a crisis pregnancy center. You may also use sources over the Internet. The agency should help identify a child for you and assist you with all the legal proceedings. They should help you make the process go as smoothly as possible. Some agencies even go as far as providing counseling for all the parties involved. An extension of a private placement adoption is when the natural parents or birth mother find a family looking to adopt get together and go to an agency.


A Step Parent adoption is when one spouse in a remarriage adopts the child of the other parent. One of the natural parents relinquishes all their rights to the child.


Open adoptions are agreements and commitments between the birth parents and adoptive parents. In an open adoption there are open lines between the birth parents the adoptive parent and the child. Arrangements should be made before hand to avoid conflicts later on. An international adoption is when a United States resident adopts a child born and living in a foreign country. This type of adoption is becoming popular.


In the March eighth New York Times edition of the paper they say that international adoptions are rising steadily, to 16,396 in 1999 from 7,093 in 1990. International adoption has been one of the most growing trends when adopting. Most people think that when they adopt internationally that all countries follow the same rules for adoption that the U.S. does. Many countries have different rules on allowing people from other countries to adopt their kids. “Many think international adoption is too expensive. Dillon's Director Margie Wasielewski says adopting from many countries can cost less than adopting a child in the USA (Harty 4).” In comparing Haiti to Hong Kong I have found some similarities and differences.

Some similarities are as followed: You must follow the U.S. Immigration Procedure. This is run through the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the United States. You must contact whoever has jurisdiction over your location and fill out forms for a visa. You have to fill out the I-600 and I-600 A form, which allow the Immigration and Naturalization Service to evaluate the prospective parents. If you have to travel to get the child you must have a medical examination. In order to meet the requirements for a visa for the child you must meet the definition of orphan under the immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. Other things you'll have to do is compile a dossier that includes a

Justice Dept. fingerprint check,

certified birth certificates, and

a letter from the U.S. Immigration &

naturalization Service allowing you

to bring a foreign orphan into the

U.S. You must also arrange a home

study, in which a social worker

interviews you and writes a report

on your motives, finances, and general

fitness to adopt. The document gathering

process takes six months or more.

( Joan Oleck, with Patricia Kranz;

Amy Dunkin p. 200).


This is done to make sure that you are not only financially stable but emotionally stable also.


You do not have to live in Hong Kong to adopt or be in Hong Kong for the adoption process to take place. Most of the children that are available for adoption are two years of age or older. They might also be a special need baby. Chinese people have a better chance of receiving a child than non- Chinese people. To adopt a child you must be between the ages of twenty-five and forty-five. If you are between the ages of twenty one to twenty-five or over forty-five you may be allowed to adopt with the consent of the Social Welfare Department. You must be married for at least three years if it is the first marriage. If it is...

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