Adoption is described as taking on legal responsibilities to a child of whom is not your biological child. In today’s society there are many issues around adoptions and the impact that it has on the children. Adoption has its own emotional, social and legal process that is difficult to have children cope with. Being raised by a family that is not your biological family but having the personality and attitude of your biological family can be difficult to understand and deal with. Fostering is described as to bring up or nurture.
This is where families take in children to raise but not keep as their own. Similar to adoption, fostering creates a way for families to raise a child to teach morals and life problems to while still allowing a connection to the birth parents. Both these terms are very similar in definition but portray a different meaning for the child and the families. Over the years adoption and fostering policies have changed and in aspect of that it created controversy towards future families and the impact it has on children who are fostered or adopted.
The intention of this paper is to inform the reader about adoption and fostering, and how it affects society today. The history of adoptions, current impacts, currents efforts and a discussion on my view of the approaches and how to reduce the problem will be discussed. Overall, there are many positive outcomes from adoption and fostering, but if dealt with the wrong way it can lead to negative outcomes for both the child and the family. History The history of adoptions date back to the 1850’s and even before that.
Massachusetts set one of the first adoption laws distinguishing it as a social, legal process for children in welfare. Since adoption became known there have been different adoption topics started including the orphan trains, baby farming, international adoptions and fostering and foster care. These issues all portray negative and positive aspects towards adoption and fostering. In the past some of these issues started out negative but then laws made them into a good quality for the society.
Orphan trains was where children from highly populated cities like New York were sent on a train to the western states for families there to rescue and Americanize these children who came from a poor, urbanized setting, This was very controversial to the people, and it led to the term “placing out”. Over time, this created families in the United States to recognize children coming from these situations and people recognizing international adoptions. The orphan trains leading to the recognition of international adoptions has creating a greater opportunity for people to achieve the families that they have been wanting.
International adoptions is where children are adopted from a foreign country. These children had religious impulses that characterized the era to become known to the Americans. Recently, in 2000 the Child Citizenship Act allowed foreign babies to become an automatic American citizen eliminating legal burdens of naturalization. This was a huge step in creating equalization in America, because adopting infants from a foreign country use to be looked down upon, and over the years has become a positive act. Baby farming was common in the 1920’s. This controversy was about how infants were placed out for money.
Many of the clients were unwed mothers, prostitutes or deserted wives. They did this because they would go out and make money. This got a bad reputation because the infants were often abused or neglected. Today, baby farming is relatable to day cares. Foster care was created to replace orphanages. Orphanages were perceived to be ruining the children and sickening them, over time foster families would take in children to nurture them and take care of them until an adoption family was interested. By 1950, statistics showed that for the first time children in foster care outnumbered children in an institution.
This was a positive movement away from institutions because children were still allowed their relationship with their biological parents. Impact The Center for Adoption and Support and Education has 7 core issues in adoption. These issues are loss, rejection, guilt, grief, identity, relationships and control. Children feel loss because they feel abandoned and a loss of their cultural identity. Rejection is something that comes into play when they can only be chosen if rejected. This leads to self-esteem problems and they tend to anticipate rejection.
Guilt is related to anger and this is something that a child should not feel for being adopted. Children need a sense of identity and being young, is something that is hidden from them and they feel they need to act out to create an identity. Another important factor are relationships. Being adopted can be hard because they fear to get close and then get rejected. Children who are adopted feel they were not in control when decisions were made. All of these factors are influential to children, and something that needs to be more aware to parents and the organizations.
Reflecting back on the history of adoptions, these problems have not surfaced yet. With the topics that I talked about regarding the orphan trains, those children were vulnerable and mistreated. Many scenarios like that can create a disadvantage for children and their upbringing. Currently, many of these problems can be fixed. In today’s society international adoptions have become very popular for the reason to expand a family, or to save a child from a harsh future. Bringing different cultures back to America require more attention to ensure that they will be recognized.
Efforts Current efforts to reduce children to feel this way have been addressed today. Counseling is something that is very crucial in a child’s life that has just been altered. From being adopted, or living in a foster home many things can happen and influence a child wrongfully. Children who are adopted from another country have been modeled the way their family will live. Discussion Adoption and fostering are a staple to our society, without the option to do so many children would be homeless or in orphanages.
Learning about all of the different events that have happened in the past makes me wonder what happened to those children, and where they are today. Many organizations have come up with programs that will help children and the way they live. In today’s generation, social media has become a powerful tool for families and adoptions. With the help of social media, it allows people to stay connected. This is crucial for someone who does not get to see family, or people that they love. Being adopted, or in foster care this can help those in need of support.
Another way social media has been a positive influence is raising the awareness of adoption and all of the opportunities that it has. Many organizations have turned to social media for this reason. My view on adoption is positive and I belief that there should be no discrimination towards it, and the proper coping strategies should be used to have the best experience. Adopting is something that is near to my heart, and it has led to positive experiences that I think everyone should experience.
Conclusion Overall, adopting and fostering children have been an opportunity for families since the early 1800’s. Many things have come from these children, and these experiences will not stop growing. Many laws have been put into place to acknowledge adopting. In today’s society adopting and fostering children have been a way to incorporate different lifestyles into one. Learning new experiences and helping people in need is the main priority of communities. I think that people should learn as much as they can about the history and complications that came from such a positive thing.
