My answer: not enough. And I say that from the often-unwelcome perspective of an adoption professional whose career (however well-intended) has been sadly built on the misfortunes of others (whether the infertile or the hyperfertile or the most-fertile-at-the-worst-possible-time.)
I began working in adoption 20 years ago, and while there are signs of hope here and there, there is still so much more that needs to happen before adoption can either be eliminated for good or overhauled to the point that it is truly child-centered.
Blackmarket adoptions, unfortunately, are still a thriving industry in modern-day America. Baby brokers outnumber reformers, and attorneys continue to play the role of social workers, while agency fees rise every year. And we still lack nationwide legal protections to ensure the sanctity and enforceability of the agreements being made and to guarantee all adoptees' lifelong access to their own truths, their families of origin and their original birth records.
Birthparents are still all-too-often devalued and exploited, while adoptive parents are still far too willing to blithely buy others' children, both in this country and abroad, naively believing that the ends justify the means.
Open adoption is all too often nothing more than a sales pitch, and there's still no federal oversight of the numbers of placements done in this country each year, nor the legality of thousands of annual interstate placements. (Lawmakers voted down the Uniform Adoption Act, and have been arguing over changes to the ICPC for years, to no avail.)
But for those who do want to see the half-full glass rather than the half-empty one; I do think more ethical adoption professionals are working harder to offering expectant parents a more realistic view of the lifelong losses and the undeniable grief that come with the relinquishment. Birthparents today have greater opportunity to select their child's new home and continue some means of contact after placement, with roughly a dozen states recognizing post-placement contact agreements as being legally-enforceable. Fathers' rights have become a greater concern in many states, as well, as more recognize the need for men to have a say in adoption decisions as well.
And more and more adoptive parents are seeking to educate themselves about the benefits of openness as applicable to the best interests of the child/ren they adopt, enabling those kids to grow up with some degree of access to and contact with their birthfamilies. More families who adopt are beginning to recognize that children adopted without any say in the matter surely deserve to know their own stories from Chapter One, and have both their families (first and adoptive) recognized as part of their "forever family."
There is so much that still needs changing. But that said, all of us in the adoption community do seem to be learning better to listen to each other and work together towards change, real and lasting change that truly honors the children, most of all.
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My answer: not enough. And I say that from the often-unwelcome perspective of an adoption professional whose career (however well-intended) has been sadly built on the misfortunes of others (whether the infertile or the hyperfertile or the most-fertile-at-the-worst-possible-time.)
ReplyDeleteI began working in adoption 20 years ago, and while there are signs of hope here and there, there is still so much more that needs to happen before adoption can either be eliminated for good or overhauled to the point that it is truly child-centered.
Blackmarket adoptions, unfortunately, are still a thriving industry in modern-day America. Baby brokers outnumber reformers, and attorneys continue to play the role of social workers, while agency fees rise every year. And we still lack nationwide legal protections to ensure the sanctity and enforceability of the agreements being made and to guarantee all adoptees' lifelong access to their own truths, their families of origin and their original birth records.
Birthparents are still all-too-often devalued and exploited, while adoptive parents are still far too willing to blithely buy others' children, both in this country and abroad, naively believing that the ends justify the means.
Open adoption is all too often nothing more than a sales pitch, and there's still no federal oversight of the numbers of placements done in this country each year, nor the legality of thousands of annual interstate placements. (Lawmakers voted down the Uniform Adoption Act, and have been arguing over changes to the ICPC for years, to no avail.)
But for those who do want to see the half-full glass rather than the half-empty one; I do think more ethical adoption professionals are working harder to offering expectant parents a more realistic view of the lifelong losses and the undeniable grief that come with the relinquishment. Birthparents today have greater opportunity to select their child's new home and continue some means of contact after placement, with roughly a dozen states recognizing post-placement contact agreements as being legally-enforceable. Fathers' rights have become a greater concern in many states, as well, as more recognize the need for men to have a say in adoption decisions as well.
And more and more adoptive parents are seeking to educate themselves about the benefits of openness as applicable to the best interests of the child/ren they adopt, enabling those kids to grow up with some degree of access to and contact with their birthfamilies. More families who adopt are beginning to recognize that children adopted without any say in the matter surely deserve to know their own stories from Chapter One, and have both their families (first and adoptive) recognized as part of their "forever family."
There is so much that still needs changing. But that said, all of us in the adoption community do seem to be learning better to listen to each other and work together towards change, real and lasting change that truly honors the children, most of all.
It just can't happen soon enough.
Nice Post!
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