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Adoption is a way for children who cannot be cared for by their natural parents to become a part of a family. By laws that have been passed and procedures that have been created, relationships between adoptive parents and a child can be the same as that between natural parent and child. Adoption will end the child's ties to his natural parents. After the adoption the child has a new permanent home.
In most countries, children are raised in their natural families that are made up of a mother and a father and the children that are born to them. Sometimes a natural parent cannot give the child the love and the care that they need. Maybe the are too young or maybe the were not married. These parents may decide after much sorrow and soul searching that it would be best to give the child up for adoption. They want the child to have the best possible chance at life and a real family.
Some children may loose their parents by death, illness, accident, or some other type of disaster. There are times when parents jus plain abandon or neglect a child. Those children are many times put in foster care for long periods of time. (Today there is a program called foster/adopt in which a child is place in the home of a foster parent who may someday adopt them.) When it is clear that no one is ever coming back for the child, they too will be put up for adoption.
Family's must be found for children who no longer have parents to care for them. There are many childless people who what to adopt. They want to have a child to love and take care of. There are also many people who already have children who want to share their love and their family with a child who has no one.
Children who are adopted in the United States are mostly white babies. They will go into their new homes within days after being born. It is sometimes more difficult to find families for children who are older, nonwhite, or handicapped. Recently it has become easier to place children who are black, American Indian, or Asian.
The total number of children who are being adopted each year is beginning to level off. For many years it had been on the increase. In the United States alone, about 150,00 children are adopted each year. About half of these are adopted by stepparents, grandparents, or other relatives. The others are adopted by unrelated people.
Children that need a family and people seeking children can come together in several different ways. Most of the adoptions by non relatives take place through social agencies. Sometimes physicians, lawyers, churches, and other well meaning people will try to get involved. Many times a dishonest person may try to make money by finding a child for someone who is willing to pay a high price for them.
These types of arrangements, which have been made by individuals, have in many cases proved harmful for the child, the natural parents, and for the adoptive parents. An individual is not always able to give the time, protection, or help needed in an adoption. Many difficulties will be avoided if you leave the adoption procedures to the social agencies.
The purpose of an adoption service is to help children, natural parents, and adoptive parents. Social workers have special training, skills, and experience to hemp provide these services. They know how to study children and to find out what is best for each child. They work with doctors, psychologists, and lawyers. They use the advice of all the experts to help match the right child with the right parents. They then know what to do to help the adoptive parent through the adoption process. They may charge a fee for this which will be based on your ability to pay.
If you have adopted an older child, you may need some extra help in becoming a family. Most problems are the normal ones that parents and children will have. It is just that if you are new at this you may need a little additional help and training.
Adoptive parents are encouraged to tell the child as soon as they are able to understand that they have been adopted. Many want to keep this a secret and so do not say anything. The children always seem to find out sooner or later. Many will become upset and want to know why their natural parents did not want them. They begin to feel that life would have somehow been better with the other set of parents. They become curious and want to find their natural parents.
An adoption must take place according to the law. Each state has set up laws that will help in saying how the relationship between the natural parents and the child will end and how the new one between the adoptive parents and the child will begin. The law requires that certain procedures be followed. These are designed to help protect everyone that is involved in the adoption.
The parent-child relationship is very important in our world today. The law requires that a judge makes the decision on whether that relationship be broken. He must also, then, be the one to decide if an adoption will be legal and final. The adoptive parent must go to court and ask that lasting family tie between them and the child be established. They must firs wait until the child has lived with them for a predetermined amount of time. The judge will then study all of the facts in the case, and if the child is old enough he will talk to them to see if they understand what is about to happen. When that adoption is final a new birth certificate will be issued to the child with the name of the adoptive parents on it. Lawyers are used in these cases to make sure that each aspect of the law has been properly carried out.
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