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Birth Families or Adoptive Families?: Nature Over Nurture
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10294 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
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12 / 1993 |
1,918 Words |
| Author
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Susan Miller-Havens
Susan Miller-Havens is education director for the American
Adoption Congress in Washington, D.C. She is a psychologist
who writes and teaches about adoption issues in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. |
During the summer of 1993, the media focused on several child custody cases that shed a harsh light on adoption law and social attitudes in the United States. Although there are many such cases in the courts all the time, the cases of Baby Jessica in Michigan, Gregory K. and Kimberly Mays (both in Florida), and Baby Pete in Vermont have received the most attention.
The coverage has highlighted the rights of parents and children. Gregory K. and Kimberly Mays sought to become adopted, thus legally severing their relationships to their families of origin. The Baby Jessica and Pete cases involved children under age 3 whose adoptions were challenged by their birth fathers. Neither father had been made aware of the birth mother's relinquishment plans.
The outcome for Jessica (age 2 1/2) was that she was returned to her biological family. Pete (age 8 months) remained with his adoptive family, but his birth father retained legal rights. The adoptive mother gained legal rights as Pete's mother. The adoptive father and the birth mother took on roles similar to stepparents in a divorce.
In this country, beginning in 1917, adoption practice sought to protect the individuals in adoption arrangements by hiding their identities. This was accomplished through sealed adoption records, altered birth certificates, and the transferring of legal responsibilities and rights from birth families to adoptive families. The intention was to make something good out of an unfortunate situation.
Supported by Victorian standards, the stigma of extramarital sex, pregnancy and illegitimacy on the one hand, and infertility, on the other, was concealed legally and socially. Social workers enabled each member of the triad to cope with the situation by reinforcing psychological mechanisms of denial.
Over time, the fabric so carefully woven to keep secrets wore thin. Americans felt free to question their involvement in Vietnam, the women's movement took hold, Alex Haley's book Roots became a best-seller, and psychotherapies that encouraged open expression became household remedies and talk show topics. Now, about 5 million (2 percent) of Americans are adopted. Birth mothers are making their experiences known, and birthfathers are also coming forward. When they feel that their experiences with the adoption system have violated their legal rights, birth parents find themselves in court.
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