Adoption Essay, Research Paper

Did you know that it is estimated that approximately one million children in the United States live with adoptive parents, and that between 2-4% of U. S. families include an adopted child (Stolley, 3)? Well, its true! It is estimated that there are approximately 120,000 children adopted each year (Flango and Flango, 1). That is a lot of children, if you ask me! There are more adoptions being issued every year in this country and many reasons why more Americans want to adopt children. Why is adoption so popular in our society? Why are more mothers giving up their babies? In the following paragraphs, I am going to tell why this is happening.

There are many reasons why a mother might give up her baby or child for adoption. The child s mother or father could die in an accident. A young girl could become pregnant and might not be able to care for the baby. A single woman, who is poor and ill, could decide she isn t able to take care of her child anymore. A poor family, living on the streets, couldn t provide for the child anymore.

As stated by DuPrau: A flood occurs-or an earthquake or a war- and large numbers

of people are killed. Events like these have happened all through history and go on

happening today. Whether personal misfortune or large-scale disaster, they all have

at least one thing in common: they leave behind children who have no homes (15).

Why do people adopt? Many people seek to adopt when they cannot give birth to biological children (Adoption, 1). A single woman, with no husband, could feel lonely

and not loved, and seek to find the perfect child to keep her company. Some families adopt children to add new members to a family that includes biological children (Adoption, 1). Many people adopt to just give a home and family to children who might not otherwise have them (Adoption, 1).

There are many types of adoptions. The most common is the adoption by a relative, which is easier to arrange than people who aren t biologically related to the child (Adoption, 2-3). A lot of children already live in the homes where the relatives are seeking to adopt the child (Adoption, 2). When this type of adoption occurs, a social service agency does a background check on the adult who is seeking to adopt, for a history of child abuse or criminal behavior. Another type of adoption is one by a stepparent. A stepparent usually adopts the child of their spouse, to become their legal guardian and to become closer to them. Stepparent adoption is also very common, because this is the simplest to arrange (Adoption, 2). Adoptions by someone who is not related to the child is much more difficult. When this type of adoption occurs, an agency conducts a home study, which is a very detailed investigation into the background of the applicant. They look at things such as medical records and financial service. There are also foreign adoptions. Many people wish to adopt children from foreign countries. This is known as international adoption. Approximately 104,000 children were adopted in 1986. Of those, 53,000 were relative adoptions, 51,000 were unrelated adoptions, and approximately 10,000 were adopted from abroad (Bachrach, London, Maza, 1).

Adoptions can be open or closed. Open adoption involves an exchange of personal information, where an agency will look at things such as financial status and medical records. People think open adoption is where you see photos of your baby every three months (Radel, 2). But it s not, if you don t want it to be. For an example,

Mary Lynne Schuster and Tia Griffin are birth mother and adoptive mother. Tia gave birth to a beautiful daughter named Elizabeth. Mary Lynne considers Tia family, because they spend so much time together and with Elizabeth. The adoptive and biological parents negotiate these issues before the child is adopted, and, in some cases, before the child is even born. The biological parents can decide to terminate the adoption if the adoptive parents don t agree with the biological parent s wishes. In a closed adoption, there is no share of personal information and the biological and adoptive parents don t interact or have any personal contact.