How Has Adoption Changed Over the Years?

Adoption, just as most of society, has changed greatly in the last century. It was not uncommon, for example, in the 1920s, for children to live in orphanages. Siblings were rarely, if ever, adopted together. Adoptions between individuals, for newborn babies or infants, were extremely rare occurrences, and were rarely discussed publicly. If a woman became pregnant without intending to, she typically either raised the child herself or, if she was unable or unwilling to raise the child, the child was raised by family members of some sort. Adoptions of this sort were often handled informally, without the involvement of agencies or courts or lawyers. In instances where there was no family support structure, the child might then be placed in an orphanage.

Adoption was, in the past, almost always closed. That is, the adoptive parents and the birth parents generally had no contact whatsoever. By the late twentieth century, however, it became more common for adoptions to be open, where the families know each other and the birth family may even have contact of one sort or another with the child. Along the way, there have been a variety of approaches, including ones in which the adoptive parents and birth parents might meet, but would not exchange any identifying information.

Another change in adoption over the years has been the increase in international adoptions. Modern travel technology has made it possible and easier than ever for people to travel across the oceans for the purposes of adoption. Whereas in the nineteenth century it would be nearly unthinkable that a middle class American family could adopt a Russian orphan, it is a relatively common practice today.

Adoption has also changed in that it has become more complicated, legally. There was a time when the process was, as has been mentioned, either informal or very basic in terms of the legal aspects of the process. Today, there are home visits, court dates, and even adoption agencies have to have attorneys to make the whole process work.

Finally, adoption has become much more socially accepted. Whereas a child whose birth parents were not around used to be looked down upon, it would be odd for this to happen today.

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