Adoption rates show emerging societal trends
For every infant available for adoption, an estimated 40 couples wait to be prospective parents, but the wait, expense and uncertainty of domestic adoption discourage all but the most determined couples.
Jeannette and Dean Hudgeons of Owasso have
built their family of five children through adoption. Seated, from left, are Aunah, 3,
Jeannette, Dean, and Abbey, 2. On the floor, from left, are Samual, 8, Emily, 6, and
Michael, 6. Standing behind the couch is Dionne White, Aunah's birth mother. Staff Photo by Doug Hoke
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Birth control, abortion, changing attitudes about sex, single parenthood and the rights of birth parents are behind a trend that has changed the face of adoption in the United States.
Nearly 20 percent of unmarried white women who became pregnant in the 1950s relinquished their babies for adoption. That number fell to 7.5 percent in 1973, and today's figures show just less than 2 percent place their newborns for adoption.
When Sheryl Bauman was in high school nearly 40 years ago, girls who got pregnant were expected to get married. Raising a child as a young, single mother was not an option, she said.
Many were forced to live in dormitory- style homes for pregnant girls and were separated from their babies immediately after giving birth. The homes still exist, but only a fraction of the women relinquish their children these days.
Bauman, director of Tulsa-based Crisis Pregnancy Outreach, assists about 300 unwed mothers each year, and an average 25 of them place their babies for adoption.
Society has made it convenient for young girls to keep their babies, Bauman said. As examples of support available, she cites day care in public schools, government- subsidized housing, food stamps and Medicaid.
It may be too easy for some girls, Bauman said, especially when they end up on welfare.
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The numbers
- The federal government granted more than $101 million in federal tax benefits to adoptive families in 1998, a year that produced an estimated 77,000 domestic and international adoptions. (U.S. Treasury Department)
- The age of unmarried mothers has increased with time. In 1970, half of nonmarital births were to teens. By 1993, the highest proportion of unmarried mothers were women in their twenties. (National Adoption Information Clearinghouse)
- Single parents are adopting in greater numbers. Prior to the 1990s, 2.5 percent to 5 percent of adoptions were to single parents. Studies now show 12 percent to 25 percent of adoptions are to single parents. (The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute)
- The birth rate for teen-agers declined 3 percent between 1998 and 1999 to reach a rate of 49.6 births per 1,000 adolescents between 15 and 19, the lowest rate in 60 years of record keeping. (National Center for Health Statistics)
Open, semi-open and closed adoption
Different agencies or organizations may have varying interpretations of the following terms. The definitions here are meant only to provide a general overview.
- An open adoption is one in which last names, addresses and telephone numbers typically are exchanged and the birth parent(s), the adoptive family and, in some cases, the child may visit on a regular basis. In a fully open adoption, the birth parent(s) and the adoptive family know each other and have ongoing communication.
- In a semi-open adoption, communication is more limited. Last names, addresses and phone numbers usually are not exchanged, sharing of photos or other information is less frequent and all communication takes place through a third party, usually the agency.
- In a closed adoption, no identifying information about the birth family or the adoptive family is shared, and the families do not communicate. The adoptive family usually receives nonidentifying background information about the child and the birth family before placement. After adoption, the records are sealed and typically are not available to the adopted child.
Identified adoption
In this type of adoption, the birth mother has identified the family whom she wishes to adopt her child.
Independent adoptions
These adoptions are arranged through an intermediary, such as a lawyer or a physician, rather than through a licensed adoption agency. The intermediary may find the birth mother, who plans to place her child for adoption, or may help the birth mother locate a family interested in adopting her child. Independent adoptions are not legal in all states.
International adoptions
These are adoptions of children who were born in or are nationals of other countries.
SOURCE: National Endowment for Financial Education
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Low availability of babies in the United States is part of the reason overseas adoptions have more than doubled in the past decade.
Adoption also has its detractors. Many say it can have haunting consequences that birth mothers and adoptees live with all their lives.
Meanwhile, laws and the anatomy of adoption have changed.
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