e-mail
Before I proceed any further into this discussion of ethics in adoption, I think it might be useful to point out that there is an vast difference between illegal adoption practices and unethical ones. I believe that it is important to distinguish between the two. While I imagine that there are some few illegal practices going on in the U.S., I would venture to say that unethical practices are far more common.
Illegal practices are those which break laws and could subject one to criminal fines or jail time. Unethical practices are legal, but moral and ethical issues are breached. Most of the ethical issues that I find most troubling are those in newborn domestic adoptions. I hear stories about ethical breaches in international adoptions, but, have scant information about the factual basis for those stories.
Judging adoption agencies/and or adoption practices is not an easy task. The standards may sometimes be different for adoptive and birth parents. Most of the articles I read for adoptive parents about choosing an agency neglect the issue of ethics entirely. I am pleased to find that there is growing awareness among adoptive parents that there are many ethical issues to be concerned with when adopting a child. In the past, I think it was assumed that most adoptions were entirely ethical. As more people really speak up, especially birth mothers, we are finding out that is not necessarily always the case. I believe that for the sake of our children, we need to continue to educate ourselves about these issues.
One major issue is making certain that the mother who is considering relinquishment is making an informed and valid decision. What adoptive mother would want her child to someday question whether she did her best to insure that their adoption was ethical as possible? Many adoptees will never question their adoption and whether it was neccessary or ethical, but……..some do.
To Be Continued…………………………………
