Will you save a soul or corrupt a kid? By adopting a child,Based on a national survey of adoption attitudes reported by the Evan Donaldson Institute for Adoption, in 2002, most Americans (64%) knew a birth parent, someone who is adopted, or an adoptive parent. Adoption is a way of providing new families for children who can’t be brought up by their biological parents. To be adopted, the child must be under the age of 18 when the adoption application is first made. Also, both birth parents have to agree to their birth child being adopted, unless the birth parents cannot be found or they are incapable of giving consent (e.g. due to a mental disability).
To be able to adopt a child you have to be 21 years old or over and either: single, married, in a civil partnership, an unmarried couple or the partner of the child’s parent. Scottish government figures show there were 466 adoptions last year; meanwhile there were 15,708 under-18s in care. In 1970 there were 2040 adoptions and 1400 in 1980. This evidence shows a dramatic decrease in the number of children being adopted. Perhaps this is due to the public’s view on adoption having turned sour in the past two decades.
Is adoption morally wrong? Some people refuse to adopt as they feel they will not be able to love an adopted child as much as a biological child. Research shows 95% of adoptive parents experience a strong attachment to their adopted child. By adopting a child, a home and family are given to a child that did not have either of the two or perhaps came from an abusive background. It gives love to neglected children and international adoption can save children from institutions where they are neglected, beaten and starved.
Adopting gives a child a new start with a new family, safe from abusive parents who will not be able to come into their birth child’s life and cause issues. Sometimes children need a new identity, some hope and security. It gives a better chance at life to people who may never have had one. Furthermore, more than one-third of Americans have considered adopting but no more than 2% have actually adopted. The idea of rescuing a child who would have to face a life without the benefits of having a loving and supportive family motivates the many people who choose to adopt, but only a select few out of those many people go on to adopt.
On June 6th 2012, BBC News released a report stating that David Cameron said: “New-born babies being taken into care should be fostered by people who want to adopt them. ” He went on to say that the law in England will be changed to encourage more councils to do this – so more babies can find a loving home earlier. He also said it is “shocking” that so many babies taken in to care at one month wait 15 months to be adopted. Adoption is a controversial issue with many negative aspects attached to this sensitive topic. The infant adopted could grow up with trust issues or be teased while growing up.
Adopted children could be bullied at school, especially if the child is part of an interracial adoption, perhaps because of an outside perception of the child seeming as though they do not fit in with their adopted family. If the adoption is a closed adoption then the child, when grown up, can feel a lack of ancestry and genetics because of sealed and inaccessible records, this could lead to low self esteem and self worth either because they do not feel worthy enough to have been kept or due to teasing and abandonment.
There is also a stigma attached to interracial adoption, with the assumption that white families in the UK are unable to adopt black children. Black families can adopt white children but most people who adopt want to adopt someone of their own race. The demographics of the foster care system shows that 38% are white and 41% are black so those who also claim that black children in care are much more numerous than white children do not have a valid argument. Interracial adoption is legal, however, not always encouraged in some areas.