Albano 1

Kelcie Albano

Writing for College Section 3

Mr. Smith

18 April 2018

The Search for Home: The Adoption Process in Modern America

Section One: Introduction

When eating fruit flavored candies, such as Skittles or Starbursts, people usually have a

preference of which flavor they may or may not want to eat. For example, some people dislike

the orange flavored Skittles, however, some may think it is the best flavor. If there are Skittles

that are not wanted, they may want to give it away to someone else. This process of choosing

which flavor and color skittle one may want is like parents giving their child for adoption.

Imagine children being treated like orange skittles, in which they are unwanted by his or her’s

biological parents. Likewise, for those who think orange may be the best flavor, there are people

who are willing to care and welcome the unwanted child into their lives.

Adoption is a legal process in which a child is parented by someone who assumes the role

a child's biological parents. There are a couple of reasons as to why children have to be adopted.

Whether it is because of the parents’ age, religion, culture, or lack of resources, there is one

underlying theme for these reasons. It is that their biological parents may think that their child

will experience a better life and encounter more opportunities without them. On the other hand,

for those looking to adopt, the process is definitely not easy. It takes patience and cooperation

from everyone who is involved in the adoption process. Knowing thing this, what are challenges

people face in the adoption process? After researching, some challenges are that the adopted

children may face are emotional and the adopting people may face financial and legal challenges.
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Section Two: Adopted children may face emotional challenges

There are several challenges throughout the adoption process. Not only is it a major

change for the soon-to-be parents but, it is also life changing for the child as well. However, the

change may not always mean better. If a child becomes adopted, one can assume they would be

happy and ever so grateful. However, throughout the adoption process, they might face events

that may cause a change in their mood. There was an experiment that was approved by the Ethics

Committee of the University and the National Board of Data Protection to find if

acknowledgment or rejection of adoption relates to the communication and differences in

adopted family dynamics. The data gave new insight on adopted children’s emotional

development which is influenced by family environment and pre-adoption experiences.

One conclusion was the correlation between adopted children’s early adversity and emotion

negativity was only related if they were in the institution longer. This is considered a global

indicator of adverse experiences prior to adoption. This means that if a child was able to create a

relationship with his/her’s birth parents or was adopted later, it explains the emotional reaction to

adversity. The experiment also found that the higher scores in acknowledgment of differences

were related to later adoption and less time in the adoptive family. The researchers concluded

that the variables defining the quality of family life are interrelated, but the specific relationships

depend on the characteristics of its members. They also found that the parents’ acceptance of

adoption is related to the differences of communication within the family. When parents

communicate positive energy towards their child’s adoption and give more parental satisfaction

with the adoption, there is a prediction that the adopted child had less emotional negativity. This

is an important role in indicating emotion regulation because it confirms the importance of

knowing the adoptees’ individual experiences since it contributes to the changing of adoptees.
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Some side effects of negative emotion are low self-esteem and mental disorders. Self-esteem

can be a problem for people if they have a negative outlook on themselves. This is prevalent

among many adopted children because of the different circumstances they may have faced. The

initial loss of birth parents and growing up away from them can cause the adopted to feel out of

place or rejected. They may be uncomfortable because they are different from other people.

Unlike most people, they do not who know their background of their parents and relatives. This

can cause them to feel misplaced within society and have a negative outlook on themselves.

Research done by the University of Minnesota tried to find if adopted children were more

likely to have childhood disorders. This survey was not like any other before because it is one of

the first studies done to find common childhood disorders on a population-based sample of

adoptees. Doctor Margaret A. Keyes, the lead author, and researcher relied on parent reports and

checklist description of problems of the child(s) and they had individual clinical interviews to be

examined. In the outcome, the researchers found that adopted people were twice as likely to have

ADHD or ODD than a non-adopted person. They also found that international adoptions were

less likely to have misconduct of behavior than domestic adoptions. This was shocking because

some researchers thought they would face more challenges, such as adversity and discrimination,

which would increase the risk of a mental disease. International adoptions may have lower

behavioral issues because the parents are more prepared to help the child than the adoptive

parents of domestic adoptees. Despite this being, according to the parents, the international

adoptions had significantly more symptoms of major depressive and separation anxiety

disorders. They were also more anxious than non-adopted people. Even though it seems adoption

is not beneficial, Keyes emphasizes that infants who are adopted are well-adjusted and
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psychologically healthy. Although adoption comes with challenges, the benefits far outweigh the

hardships.

Aggression in adopted children is another challenge they may face. A study done by

psychologist Nicholas Zill shows by the evaluation of teachers and tests, adopted children tend to

have worse behavior and academic outcomes in the first and second grade compared to other

types of students. In the study, he found that the teachers saw that the young adoptive children

were more likely to get angry and fight with other students than non-adopted children; The

article writes, “If a 50 percent score represents an average level of this type of “problem

behavior,” adopted kindergarteners were higher than average, at 64 percent, while children with

two biological parents were at 44 percent” (Khazan). Simply stated, that if an average

kindergartner has 50 percent of “problem behavior”, the students the teachers saw that were

adopted had 64 percent of “problem behavior” and those who had two biological parents had 44

percent. However, there was no classification that ruled exactly what problem behavior is.

One reason for the problematic behavior is due to the attachment theory. The attachment

theory is when one has a strong relationship with at least one caring adult in their lives. This is

important to young children and infants because, if they don’t have this connection or if it is

disrupted it can lead to a long-term effect: that the child has trust or people issues: “In the worst

cases, these children might have experienced a traumatic event prior to their adoption Early

trauma can affect the parts of the brain that control mood and learning” (Khazan). Another thing

that can lead children to have more problems controlling their emotion and managing conflict is

“disorganized attachment”. When a toddler or infant has this, they feel frightened or dissociated

with their parents. They are more likely to be psychologically vulnerable later in life. To avoid
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this, it is important for parents to establish a good bond between themselves and their child in

early childhood.

Section Three: Financial challenges may arise regarding adoption.

Before getting the opportunity to adopt a child, there are fees and payments that need to

be made. According to Black Enterprise, the average adoption cost is $31,750. This shows that it

is not cheap and may need financial help to achieve the goal of adoption. Through the adoption

process, financial challenges may occur.

In America, people can go through an agency or they can do an independent adoption. An

agency adoption is when people go to hire someone to help them throughout the entire process of

adoption; from helping them find the right adoption opportunity with a pregnant mother,

advertising, or networking the agency is there to support them. Some agencies may suggest

paying a flat rate or others may say to pay a small amount, but you also have to pay for ‘this’,

‘this’, and ‘this’. The costs can also rise if attorney’s get involved with an adoption. In an article

the author writes,“Private agency adoptions can range anywhere from $5,000 to $40,000-plus,

according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Administration for Children and

Families, with $25,000 to $35,000 being the norm, experts say” (Holmes). This shows that there

is a wide range of how much it can cost. Not only do people have to pay for agencies and travel

fairs, but also other miscellaneous fees. They can include FBI background checks, fees for the

birthmother, counseling, and more.

An independent adoption is when the adopter(s) finds a birthmother through advertising

or networking and uses the services of an agency or attorney to complete the legal adoption.

Couples may also want to hire an adoption consultant, which can cost up to $3,000 (Williams).

Although a consultant may be expensive, there are definitely some benefits to hiring one.
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According to Geoff Williams, he writes that before a couple hired someone, they spent $15,000

to private agencies but no one was able to help them. The couple still spent a lot of money in the

adoption process, but they were given more opportunities to explore.

To ensure a child’s safety through an independent adoption there is the Interstate

Compact on the Placement of Children. It is a federal law to ensure those who are adopted from

an outer state couple receive the same protections and services as they would in the state they

were born in. Independent adoptions tend to be cheaper because it involves less counseling from

the adoptive families and birth-parents. Some people may also want to look abroad to adopt a

child. According to americanadoption.com, “In 2013, the number of international adoptions to

the United States reached its lowest number, 7,092, since 1992”. One factor that contributes to

this, is the fact that it costs more to adopt internationally than domestically.

The top three countries that children are adopted from are China, Ethiopia, and South

Korea. According to creatingafamily.org an adoption from these countries can range from

$20,000 to $40,000. One way the cost is increased is by having a law that requires the adopting

couple or family stay in their country for a long period of time. For example, this is required in

South Kore, says creatingafamily.com. Due to this fact, they now have to spend additional

money on international flight tickets and there is a possibility of losing one’s monthly salary.

Countries that have high living costs in their cities can also contribute to a financial crisis during

the international adoption process.

Although adoption may be expensive, there are definitely ways to help alleviate the costs.

Some agencies offer grants to adopt a child. Yamilée Emmanuel-Kelly and Errol Kelly are

adopters who decided to adopt directly through a birthmother (Holmes). Their advice when

adopting was to do research because they ended up getting a $2,000 to $5,000 grant from a
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private agency. This just shows that people are willing to help a good cause. If parents are not

able to afford a private adoption, the foster care system is always looking for adopters. The fees

are kept to a minimum because they want to get more children into permanent homes. Another

option is to look at websites that offer support in peoples decision to adoption: “ Adoption grants

up to $15,000 are offered through HelpUsAdopt.org. Some employers even help out with

financial costs, and there are tax credits that encourage adoption” (Williams). LightStream is

another online loaning program that will loan people money for adoptions. There are also

employers who are willing to help and there are tax credits that support adoption. Although there

may be times where adopters may want to walk away from the process, the benefits of adopting

make people forget the challenges they have had.

Section Four: The legal process of adoption can be challenging and problematic.

Another step before adopting a child is going a legal process to make the child(s) legally

part of one’s family. There is a legal process because the government wants to ensure that youths

are going into families that are suitable and responsible to take care for the unwanted children.

However, before the 20th century adoption was done very secretly. One reason for the secrecy

was to avoid “the stigma against unmarried mothers and their children”(American). They wanted

to avoid their child being unwelcome in society or being labelled as illegitimate. Some other

reasons mothers gave their child(s) away include poverty, illness, or family crisis. Mothers

mainly wanted children to have better opportunity and did it in the best interest for them.

However, it was not always better for the child. Some people took in the children to use them as

a source of labor and profit. There was no protection of an adopted child until 1851(American).

Massachusetts was the first to recognized that adoption was a social and legal operation.

They saw it as a part of child welfare and as a result, the Adoption of Children Act was passed in
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1851. It directed judges to ensure that adoption was “fit and proper”. This was the very first time

government acted upon government. Since then the adoption process has become more complex.

Before a child is considered for adoption, there needs to be a termination of parental rights of the

birth parents. It can happen with or without the birthparents’ agreement, but it differs from state

to state. The Terminate Parental Rights is another step before adopting a child is going a legal

process to make the child(s) legally part of one’s family. Termination of parental rights can be

voluntary or involuntary, with or without the birthparents' agreement. In some states, there is a

period during which the birthparent may appeal, if rights have been terminated without his or her

consent. The length of that period varies (National).

Laws relating to adoption are different from state to state. But, there are federal adoption

laws that provide a comprehensive understanding of what the state adoption laws must follow.

Some include the Multiethnic Placement Act, Adoption Assistance Act, Adoption and Safe

Families Act, and Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act.

The Multiethnic Placement Act was passed in 1994. It prohibited state agencies involved

with foster care or adoption from discriminating when making a foster care or adoption

placement decision on a child. It also goes the other way. Agencies cannot deny anyone from an

opportunity to become a foster or adoptive parent only based on race, color, or nation origin.

This is important because it gives the opportunity for adopting parents to be considered based on

their actions as people and not on what they look like. This also helps place a child in a family in

the best interest for him or her. Another act that was passed in relation to adoption protection

laws is the Adoption and Safe Families Act. It was passed in 1997 and “identifies adoption as the

most appropriate option for children who cannot be reunified with their birth families, sets strict

time limits for states to approve and implement permanency plans, provides financial incentives
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to states that increase the number of adoptions from foster care, and encourages states to provide

continuity for children by allowing their foster parents to adopt them once their biological

parents' rights are terminated” (Hollinger). Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing

Adoptions Act was passed in 2008. It made many new changes in the child welfare system,

mostly to Title IV of the Social Security Act. Title IV gives federal payments to states for foster

care and adoption assistance. This law made the most significant federal improvements to the

child welfare system in over a decade. In short, it “ improve outcomes for children in foster care,

provide for Tribal foster care and adoption access to title IV-E funds, improve incentives for

adoption and for other purposes” (Children’s).

Due to the increase of laws addressing child welfare programs, there are situations when

things can get complicated. One example is this is the heartbreaking adoption dispute between

Christy Maldonado and Dusten Brown. They were engaged when she became pregnant.

However, the relationship went downhill and ended, leaving her a single mother. With their

relationship ended, he texted her before she gave birth saying that he would give up his parental

rights and would not support the child. Thus, she put the child up for adoption and found a

supportive family, Matt and Melanie Capobianco. When Dusten received papers notifying of the

adoption, he accidentally signed them off. But within four days, he filed a formal objection,

referring to the Indian Child Welfare Act; he is two percent Native American.

He agrees that he gave up his parental rights but he gave the rights to Christy. Before

even finalizing the adoption, Christy sent a letter, through her lawyer, to the Cherokee Nation for

her adoption plans. She gave them an opportunity to get involved under the Indian Child Welfare

Act. The“ICWA established a chain of adoptive preferences for children with Indian heritage. In

the event that neither parent could take custody, other Indian family members were to have
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priority, and after that, tribal adoptive parents” (Totenburg). They stated that they found no

record of him as a member, so the adoption went through. However, when the case went to court,

the Cherokee Nation located him in their records. The courts then ruled that the two years old,

adopted child, had to be with her biological father, a man she had never met before. The adoptive

family then filed for an appeal to the U.S Supreme Court, in the best interests of the child. Their

position in this situation was that they weren’t stealing a child from an Indian parent because the

parent with Indian heritage gave up their parental rights before the child was even born.

However, the father and the tribes saw this as a case attempting to undo the protections that

Congress established for the rights of Native American parents. The birth-mother argues that if

Indian fathers can do this, based on biology, why can’t Indian donors and rapists do the same?

The verdict of this cases was two months written after the story.

Adopting a child is a long, tedious process for everyone involved. There are emotional,

financial, and legal challenges that the children or soon to-be adoptive parents may face. Even if

there are many challenges to overcome, once it is done the feelings of happiness is indescribable.

Nothing can compare to the feeling of being wanted. Nothing can compare to the feeling of one’s

family being “completed”. Nothing can compare to the moment when the unwanted child meets

their new parents and family.

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Works Cited

American Adoptions, Inc. “‘What Does Adoption Mean to a Child?".” American Adoptions -

History of Adoption – A Complete Guide to Adoption History,

www.americanadoptions.com/adoption/history-of-adoption.

Children’s Bureau. “Major Federal Legislation Concerned With Child Protection, Child Welfare,

And Adoption”. Children’s Welfare. Child Welfare Information Gateway. March 2005.

https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/majorfedlegis.pdf

Goodwin, Michele. “The Free-Market Approach to Adoption: The Value of a Baby”. vol 26

B.C.Third World L.J. 61 (2006).

http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1074&context=twlj.

Accessed 26 Dec. 2017.

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Hollinger, Joan Heifetz and Naomi Cahn. "Forming Families by Law Adoption in America

Today." Human Rights, vol. 36, no. 3, Summer 2009, p. 16. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tth&AN=44747451&site=ehost-live.

Holmes, Tamara E. and Sheiresa Ngo. "The Real Cost of Adoption." Black Enterprise, vol. 43,

no. 4, Nov. 2012, p. 62. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=f6h&AN=83770431&site=ehost-live.

Kaplan, Arline. “Adoption and Mental Illness.” Psychiatric Times. UBM Medica, LLC. 26. Jan.

2009. http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/articles/adoption-and-mental-illness. Accessed

16 Oct. 2017.

Khazan, Olga. “The Adoption Paradox.” The Atlantic. The Atlantic Monthly Group. 9 Oct. 2015.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/10/the-adoption-paradox/409495/

Accessed 30 Aug. 2017.

National Adoption Center. “Adoption Laws.” Adoption Laws | National Adoption Center,

National Adoption Center, www.adopt.org/adoption-laws.

Ring, Trudy. "What Makes a Parent?." Advocate, no. 1094. p. 30. EBSCOhost, 1 Dec. 2017

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tth&AN=126147018&site=ehost-live.

Soares, Joana, et al. "Adopted Children's Emotion Regulation: The Role of Parental Attitudes

and Communication about Adoption." ["Regulación emocional en adoptados: el papel de

las actitudes parentales y la comunicación sobre adopción"]. Psicothema, vol. 29, no. 1,

Feb. 2017, pp. 49-54. EBSCOhost, doi:10.7334/psicothema2016.71.

Totenberg, Nina. “Adoption Case Brings Rare Family Law Dispute To High Court.” npr. npr. 16

Apr. 2013. https://www.npr.org/2013/04/16/177327391/adoption-case-brings-rare-

family- law-dispute-to-high-court. Accessed 8 Oct. 2017.

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Williams, Geoff. “The Cost of Adoption”. U.S. News. U.S. News & World Report L.P. 2 Oct.

2014. https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2014/10/02/the-cost-

of-adoption. Accessed 29 Oct. 2017.