Adoption - Everybody Needs A Second Chance

How can you identify an adopted child from one that isn't adopted? You can't. Adoption is when you legally take a child and put them in a home with people who aren't their birth parents. After this is done, the adoptive parents have all the rights that a birth parent would have and the birth parents no longer have any rights where the child is concern.

There are many reasons that lead to adoptions. Back in earlier times, it brought shame on a family if they had a young unwed daughter. So, they usually sent her away to have her baby and of course she had to give the baby up. In some cases, the child's parents die unexpectedly and there's no one around to raise them. There are times when the birth mother realizes that she just isn't ready to raise a child, so in the best interests of herself and the child, she puts her child up for adoption. In some cases a child or children maybe removed from their birth parents. If the parents are abusive or are found to be harming their children in some way; the legal system can come in and remove the children. If the parents can't convince the court that they can raise their children responsibly, then the court could put the children up for adoption.

The main reason most people adopt is because they can't have a child naturally. For obvious reasons, most people that want kids, would rather have them naturally. They want to experience the process of going through child birth. To some people this process is so important, that they'll go through alternative means to make it happen. Some people take fertility shots; while others try artificial insemination. There are many other ways that people will try, before they give up on the fact that they can't have their own child. For some people, adoption is actually their last attempt at having children.

There are two forms of adoption, open and closed. Open adoptions may allow some contact between the birth parents and the child, while closed adoptions forbid any contact between the two. Open adoptions aren't a new thing. In the past, most adoptions were informal and without the need of the court. In fact, many times, the child was actually given to a friend or family member to raise. It wasn't a secret as to who was raising the child or to who gave birth to the child. In the past, closed adoptions were viewed as being covered in secrecy. Because of the shame of being an unwed mother, the early adoption agencies felt it was best to keep the birth mothers name a secret.

Adoptions have served a great purpose in our society. There were and are a lot of kids out there who need a good stable home life. But as you look into the past, it's still amazing how all the blame for having a baby is directed at the female. The woman didn't get pregnant by herself, yet the man is never discussed in terms of having shame. Why was it so easy to leave the women out there to shoulder the burden all by themselves?

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Adoption