Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. - Colossians 3:23

History of Adoption

Cassandra Price, Program Assistant
Clearly Caring Magazine, Nov/Dec 2007, Vol. 27, No. 6

The face of adoption has changed over the past two centuries. It began, arguably, as a way to benefit adults. In the past, wealthy elderly people would adopt adults to gain their inheritance. Presently, the greatest benefactors of adoption are children because they are placed in a stable, loving home and infertile couples, because they are blessed with a child. The first modern law recognizing adoption as a social and legal operation based on child welfare, rather than adult interests, was passed in 1851. In 1868, the Massachusetts Board of State Charities became the first agency to provide funding for children to stay in private family homes. The following year an agent was assigned to visit those children. The New York State Charities Aid Association was established in 1872 as one of the countrys first organizations with a specialized child-placement program. The number of adoptions began to climb after 1900. A new culture emerged placing a premium on childrens innocence, vulnerability, and their secure membership in families. Tangible benefits, such as social security, were now provided to families adopting children.¹ The first agencies specializing in adoption were formed between 1910 and 1930. These agencies were created with a great optimism to provide children with a loving family and a better chance at life, one they were believed not to have been afforded with their often unwed mothers.² This view was directly in conflict with the current cultural views of the importance of family preservation and eugenics. It was feared that adopting a poor persons child would disrupt a superior gene pool.³ The adoption rate typically increases after each major war. This occurs partly because of the large number of adults killed, leaving behind orphans.⁴ After World War II and during the Cold War, adoption numbers doubled as adoption became the best solution for unwed mothers, couples who couldnt conceive on their own, and children born out of wedlock. The adoption market globalized as the plight of dependent and orphaned children was brought into the forefront of American thinking because of refugee migrations, famines, and other disasters. By the mid-1950s, approximately 100,000 children were adopted annually.⁶ The Christian community mobilized after 1945 and created various organizations assisting in foreign adoptions. They continued to gain ground during the 1950s as proxy adoptions became popular. This form of adoption allows U.S. citizens to adopt children in foreign courts without having to be present. Between 1953 and 1962, over 15,000 foreign children were adopted by Americans. Foreigners were also adopting American children; approximately 500 children are annually adopted by parents predominantly in Canada and Europe. Family formations across racial lines became a prominent social issue in response to this practice. Previously, matching was used to insure adoptions among the same race. Eugenics again became a concern as Americas future was speculated.⁷ The 1970s brought a number of changes in America. Among them was the legalization of abortion in 1973.⁸ Adoption reached its all-time high in 1970 with approximately 175,000 per year.⁹ During the past several decades adoption has become more visible as it is more openly discussed. In addition, an increasing number of foreign children were brought into our homes producing parents and children who look nothing alike. However, the number of adoptions continues its decline following the 1973 Supreme Court abortion decision. In recent years, approximately 125,000 children have been adopted annually in the United States.¹⁰ Perhaps as a result of the legalization of abortion in America, the number of foreign adoptions has tripled in the past decade to encompass nearly 16 percent of all adoptions.¹¹ Positive steps are still being taken regarding the adoption option. In 2000, the Child Citizenship Act allowed foreign-born adoptees to become American citizens when they entered the United States.¹² Also in the Census 2000, adopted son/daughter was included as a kinship category for the first time.¹³ Today, approximately 2 to 4 percent of families in the United States have adopted.¹⁴ Five million Americans are adoptees and 2.5 percent of all children under 18 are adopted.

¹ The Adoption History Project. Accessed 9/17/07 from http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~adoption.
² Louise Waterman Wise, Mothers in Name, Survey 43 (March 20, 1920):780.
³ Henry H. Goddard, Wanted: A Child to Adopt, Survey 27 (October 14, 1911):1003-1006.
⁴ Adoption Clubhouse. Accessed 9/17/07 from http://www.adoptionclubhouse.org.
⁵ The Adoption History Project. Accessed 9/17/07 from http://darlwing.uoregon.edu/~adoption.
⁶ Penelope L. Maza, Adoption Trends: 1944-1975, Child Welfare Research Notes #9 (U.S. Childrens Bureau, August 1984), pp. 1-4, Child Welfare League of America Papers, Box 65, Folder: AdoptionResearchReprints of Articles, Social Welfare History Archives, University of Minnesota.
⁷ The Adoption History Project. Accessed 9/17/07 from http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~adoption.
⁸ Cornell University Law School. Accessed 9/18/07 from http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0410_0113_ZS.html.
⁹ Penelope L. Maza, Adoption Trends: 1944-1975, Child Welfare Research Notes #9 (U.S. Childrens Bureau, August 1984), pp. 1-4, Child Welfare League of America Papers, Box 65, Folder: AdoptionResearchReprints of Articles, Social Welfare History Archives, University of Minnesota.
¹⁰ The Adoption History Project. Accessed 9/17/07 from http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~adoption.
¹¹ U.S. Department of State. Accessed 9/17/07 from http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/stats/stats_451.
¹² Public Law 106-395, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. Accessed 9/18/07 from http://www.//naic.acf.hhs.gov.
¹³ U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Special Reports, Adopted Children and Stepchildren: 2000.
¹⁴ Child Welfare Information Gateway. Accessed 9/17/07 from http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/statistics/adoption.cfm.

Article Shortcut: http://www.christianliferesources.com?7297

Would a friend, relative, or acquaintance find a particular page or article useful? Fill out the form below to send it to a friend!

Please fill out the small form below to leave a comment or suggestion about the page you were just visiting. Any and all feedback is appreciated! Your feedback will help make our website even better.