Adoption is an old tradition in the United States, and like many old traditions, it has undergone serious changes throughout its existence.
Public opinion about adoption has changed over time, as has cultural acceptance and its overall popularity.
Not only that, but the terms of adoption have changed as well.
In this day of technology and advanced communications, adoptions which allow the children to know who their parents were are more common.
However, closed adoptions, in which the children never learn the identity of their biological parents, are still available.
Such adoptions were quite common in the past, reaching the height of their popularity just after World War 2.
The idea is that when a young child is put up for adoption, the record of the birth parents is sealed, and the birth father is often not recorded at all.
This effectively removes any chance for the adopted child to find his or her biological parents later in life.
Naturally, because the closed adoption relies on the child having no idea who his or her parents are, it is only practical in very young children.
The perceived advantages of this type of confidential process are that children grow up feeling an actual connection to their adoptive parents, and know no other life.
Some parents feel that this is a more nurturing, more caring relationship to have with their adopted children, and that it allows them to have the same relationship with these children that they have with any biological children they might have.
However, this style of adoption also poses a fair number of concerns in the light of our modern society.
Beyond the problem that older children cannot be adopted in this manner, adoptive parents with no knowledge of their children's parental background are not able to make predictions about illnesses or other medical issues the children may have inherited from their biological parents.
Additionally, many children who were adopted in closed adoptions find that they want to find their biological parents later in life, and have to go through a long search process to find them.
Many see open adoptions as a more practical method in today's world, and some critics of the confidential system even go so far as to say that making a child's birth parents literally a state secret is a violation of human rights.
Public opinion about adoption has changed over time, as has cultural acceptance and its overall popularity.
Not only that, but the terms of adoption have changed as well.
In this day of technology and advanced communications, adoptions which allow the children to know who their parents were are more common.
However, closed adoptions, in which the children never learn the identity of their biological parents, are still available.
Such adoptions were quite common in the past, reaching the height of their popularity just after World War 2.
The idea is that when a young child is put up for adoption, the record of the birth parents is sealed, and the birth father is often not recorded at all.
This effectively removes any chance for the adopted child to find his or her biological parents later in life.
Naturally, because the closed adoption relies on the child having no idea who his or her parents are, it is only practical in very young children.
The perceived advantages of this type of confidential process are that children grow up feeling an actual connection to their adoptive parents, and know no other life.
Some parents feel that this is a more nurturing, more caring relationship to have with their adopted children, and that it allows them to have the same relationship with these children that they have with any biological children they might have.
However, this style of adoption also poses a fair number of concerns in the light of our modern society.
Beyond the problem that older children cannot be adopted in this manner, adoptive parents with no knowledge of their children's parental background are not able to make predictions about illnesses or other medical issues the children may have inherited from their biological parents.
Additionally, many children who were adopted in closed adoptions find that they want to find their biological parents later in life, and have to go through a long search process to find them.
Many see open adoptions as a more practical method in today's world, and some critics of the confidential system even go so far as to say that making a child's birth parents literally a state secret is a violation of human rights.