| Since the beginning of time, individuals have been | | | | trains carrying the children between 1854 and 1929 |
| known to adopt the biological children of others. The | | | | were called orphan trains, although the term isn't |
| idea of adoption is mentioned in the Bible, in the | | | | really accurate. |
| works of the ancient Greeks and Romans, and even | | | | As the total number of informal adoptions increased, |
| by the Babylonians. While its roots go back thousands | | | | it became evident to lawmakers everywhere that |
| of years, adoption didn't become a thing people | | | | something needed to be done to create a formal |
| spoke of until the latter half of the 20th century. | | | | process for adoption. In 1851, Massachusetts became |
| Shockingly enough, there were no laws in place prior | | | | the first state to have an adoption statute. Under |
| to the 1850s governing the adoption of children in the | | | | this original statute, adoption had to be approved by |
| United States. | | | | a judge, required the consent of the child's parents or |
| Prior to the creation of specific laws pertaining to | | | | guardian, and could only occur if the prospective |
| adoption, parents and adoptive parents informally | | | | adoptive family had the financial means to raise a |
| transferred children. This had been going on since the | | | | child. |
| colonial times. During the early years of American | | | | At the turn of the 20th century, states began |
| society, there were no formal procedures in place to | | | | creating ways to keep an adoption record private. |
| record births or name changes of a baby. This made | | | | Only the parties to the adoption could see what was |
| it very easy to adopt a child informally. In many | | | | in the file. Not until the 1930s did statutes begin to |
| cases, sadly, adoptions were economically motivated. | | | | implement the closed adoption style of secrecy. |
| Industrialization resulted in massive immigration to | | | | Parental consent to the adoption of a child has been |
| cities. | | | | a part of adoptions since the very beginning. The big |
| In many cases, a family would not have the financial | | | | questions have been who are parents and what |
| ability to support their children. As a result, the birth | | | | constitutes consent. These definitions vary by state |
| parents or a charitable institution that took the baby | | | | and have also varied with time. In addition to |
| off of the hands of the family would informally | | | | voluntary parental consent, the state can now |
| transfer the child to another family. In many cases, | | | | acquire parental consent for adoption by demands. |
| because they need so much labor, the children were | | | | This is called involuntary parental consent. |
| sent to the country to be adopted by farms. The | | | | |