| Adoption in the United States refers to | | | | Patty's Day. This affects whole |
| the legal act of adoption, of | | | | communities, and as a consequence our |
| permanently placing a person under the | | | | sense of who we are, what we look like, |
| age of 18 with a parent or parents other | | | | as a people, as individual peoples. |
| than the birth parents. | | | | These are profound lessons that adoption |
| 30% of Americans have a close family | | | | is teaching us.” |
| member to whom they are related by | | | | Adoption agencies |
| adoption. This means that one in three | | | | Adoption agencies can range from |
| Americans is intimately connected to | | | | government-funded agencies that place |
| adoption[citation needed]. In addition, | | | | children at little cost, to lawyers who |
| adoption touches many millions more | | | | arrange private adoptions, to |
| occasionally or indirectly: the doctors, | | | | international commercial and non-profit |
| social workers, lawyers and teachers who | | | | agencies. Adoptive parents can pay from |
| deal with adoptive families, as well as | | | | nothing to US$40,000+ for an adoption. |
| the friends, neighbors, colleagues, and | | | | Trans-racial adoption |
| classmates of them. | | | | The desire for parents to adopt children |
| The 2000 census was the first census in | | | | of the same race is the cause of some |
| which adoption statistics were | | | | controversy within the United States, |
| collected. The number of children | | | | especially in the African-American |
| awaiting adoption dropped from 132,000 | | | | community. There are more Caucasian |
| to 118,000 during the period 2000 to | | | | families seeking to adopt than there are |
| 2004 USA Adoption Chart | | | | minority families; conversely, there are |
| The foster care system | | | | more minority children available for |
| The United States has a system of foster | | | | adoption. This disparity often results |
| care by which adults care for minor | | | | in a lower cost to adopt children from |
| children who are not able to live with | | | | ethnic minorities - usually through |
| their biological parents. Most adoptions | | | | special adoption grants rather than fee |
| in the U.S. are placed through the | | | | discrimination. Critics claim this cost |
| foster care system. In fiscal year 2001, | | | | disparity implies that minority babies |
| 50,703 foster children were adopted in | | | | are of less value than white ones. This |
| the United States, many by their foster | | | | situation is morally difficult because |
| parents or relatives of their biological | | | | the adoptive families see adoption as a |
| parents. The enactment of the Adoption | | | | great benefit to trans-racially adopted |
| and Safe Families Act in 1997 has | | | | children, while some minorities see it |
| approximately doubled the number of | | | | as an assault on their culture. In 2004, |
| children adopted from foster care in the | | | | 26 percent of African-American children |
| United States. | | | | adopted from foster care were adopted |
| Wide impact | | | | trans-racially. Government agencies have |
| Adoption is changing the way people form | | | | varied over time in their willingness to |
| families, as well as affecting the way | | | | facilitate trans-racial adoptions. |
| society perceives the fundamental | | | | "Since 1994, white prospective parents |
| concepts of life such as nature vs. | | | | have filed, and largely won, more than |
| nurture and the role of biological | | | | two dozen discrimination lawsuits, |
| relations with an adoptive family | | | | according to state and federal court |
| member. Because of changes in adoption | | | | records." There is also a great need to |
| over the last few decades – changes | | | | place these children; in 2004 more than |
| that include open adoption, gay | | | | 45,000 African-American children were |
| adoption, international adoptions and | | | | waiting to be adopted from foster care. |
| trans-racial adoptions, and a focus on | | | | Americans have adopted more than 200,000 |
| moving children out of the foster care | | | | children from overseas in the past 15 |
| system into adoptive families – the | | | | years, half of which come from Asia. |
| impact of adoption on the basic unit of | | | | This trend has helped lower the |
| society, the family, has been enormous. | | | | resistance to trans-racial adoptions in |
| As adoption expert Adam Pertman has | | | | the United States, at least for Asian |
| said, “Suddenly there are Jews holding | | | | and Hispanic children, although there is |
| Chinese cultural festivals at | | | | still high demand for Caucasian |
| synagogues, there are Irish people with | | | | children, who usually come from Eastern |
| their African American kids at St | | | | Europe. |