Adoption in the United States

In the United States, minor children are adopted through a system of foster care that has been set up. Since 1997, adoptions have almost doubled despite the limit that when a child reaches 18 years, he or she is aged out of the adoption bracket. Adoption has changed the way society perceives the fundamental concepts of life and the role of biological parenthood in the picture has also been affected. Adopting from different races has also been on the rise. While there are many families that are adopting from outside the United States, especially from Asian countries, open adoptions are also on the rise right in the United States.

Adoption agencies are many and varied. They can range from agencies that are funded by the government to those under private, international or non-profit agencies. Adopting from either a government-funded agency or from a commercial or private adoption agency can range from nothing to over $40,000. While there has been some controversy over the desire of parents adopting from the same race, especially with regard to African-American children, most white prospective parents have filed and won more than 2 dozen court discrimination lawsuits. According to the federal court records, there is still a great need to have African-American children be adopted in foster care.

When it comes to international adoptions, the United States represents the majority of families adopting from foreign countries, followed by Europe and then other developed nations. Most families adopting from foreign countries seem to adopt from China. To ensure that both the families and the children match, there are individuals who act on their own to make sure this happens. They provide the necessary transportation, translation if necessary and other requirements when adopting from a foreign country. These facilitators however operate in a legal gray area since their legal status is either uncertain or out rightly banned in some U.S. states. Their influence however is great in directing a particular client to a certain child. Acting as gatekeepers, in some cases, they have also been accused of defrauding prospective adoptive parents.

Whether adopting from a foreign country or right in the United States, the demands or raising a child are more or less the same regardless of the adoption fees. All the normal expenses of raising a child will have to be paid including sending the child to college, paying for his or her car insurance, general child care and other necessary expenses. However, the rewards of raising an adopted child are unmatched.