This paper examines the history and evolution of adoption in the United States, with particular attention to international and special needs adoption. It traces the practice from Colonial times through the post-World War II era and into the present day, highlighting key social, legal, and demographic factors that have shaped adoption trends. The paper also addresses the unique challenges adoptive families may face, including developmental, cognitive, and behavioral issues stemming from genetics, prenatal conditions, and early childhood experiences. It concludes that with adequate support systems, adoptive parents can successfully raise well-adjusted children within loving family units.
The paper demonstrates effective use of contextual framing: rather than jumping directly into challenges faced by adoptive families, it establishes the historical and legal backdrop that explains why those challenges exist. This technique shows readers not just what is happening but why, lending analytical depth to what could otherwise be a descriptive survey.
The paper opens with a thesis-style introduction outlining the core challenges of adoption. It then moves through a chronological history of American adoption practices, pivoting to the role of international adoption pioneers and the social movements that broadened adoption's scope. It closes by examining legal decisions and demographic factors — declining domestic infant availability and rising infertility rates — that continue to shape the modern adoption landscape.
Children who are adopted, particularly international adoptees, often face more challenges in family life and in school than parents' biological children. Genetics, prenatal care, and experiences in early infancy — none of which are under the control of the adoptive parents — can have a great impact on a child's cognitive abilities and emotional and behavioral responses. Sometimes issues are immediately apparent, but too often parents realize much later that their adopted child has special needs. In some cases, those needs are not evident until a child reaches school age.
Potential adoptive parents should not necessarily be discouraged from adopting a child, particularly from a foreign country, but they should be aware of the issues and challenges they may face. Parents with strong support systems — including family and friends, adoption support groups, caregivers, and educators — have a greater chance of success in raising a happy, well-adjusted adopted child who is a full part of a loving family unit.
Adoption is the legal procedure that gives a permanent home and family to a child whose biological parents are unable, unwilling, or legally prohibited from keeping the child (Brumble and Kampfe, 2011, p. 157). In the United States, the practice dates back to Colonial times, but until the end of World War II, adoptees were almost always healthy children from within the borders of the United States, adopted by parents of the same race. Most adoptions took place within a relatively narrow geographic scope.
Mothers died in childbirth and, without today's advances in medicine and healthcare, life expectancy for both mothers and fathers was shorter. Being orphaned was more common in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and even in the earliest years of the twentieth century. The social and medical conditions of those eras made adoption a practical and common response to the loss of parents.
Immediately following World War II, Americans began to adopt foreign-born children, particularly children from Germany and Greece. Brumble and Kampfe (p. 158) speculate this could have been due to the large number of American soldiers who witnessed, firsthand, the devastation of the war and the urgent need to help orphaned children. During the 1950s, Harry and Bertha Holt adopted eight Korean children, getting federal laws changed in order to do so. They were pioneers of international adoption and founded what has become the largest international adoption agency in the world.
In the 1960s, the civil rights movement and the war in Vietnam fostered a new tolerance and acceptance of human differences. Special needs adoption gained momentum in the 1970s, as more people became willing to adopt healthy children who were older, biracial, and possibly needed to be placed along with siblings. There were more people willing to adopt children once considered "unadoptable" — those with mental, emotional, or physical challenges (Brumble and Kampfe, p. 159).
You’re 72% through this paper. Sign up to read the remaining 2 sections.
Sign Up Now — Instant Access Already a member? Log inAlways verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.