CANADIAN ADOPTION RESEARCH SUMMARIESAmbert, Anne-Marie. (April 2003) The Negative Social Construction of Adoption: Its Effects on Children and ParentsThis article explores the social construction of adoption. Ambert examines reasons why childless individuals prefer biological alternatives to adoption, the prevalence of adoption, characteristics of birth parents and adoptive parents, the social construction of adoptive parents and the adjustment of adopted and nonadopted children. Ambert discusses the validity of research on adopted children and addresses issues surrounding transracial, international and step child adoption. The author also addresses open adoption and reunions with birth parents. In regards to international adoption, Ambert states that Canadians have recently adopted between 2,000 and 2,500 children internationally on an annual basis. She reports that in 2002, Americans adopted 20,000 children internationally with 64% adopting girls and 36% adopting boys (Ambert, 20-21). The author states that this sex ratio imbalance is due in part from the fact that many children originate from China where most of the available children are females because of the one-child family policy and preference for male children. The author discusses how between 1971 and 2001, Americans adopted over 265,000 children internationally. She states that the countries parents are adopting from have changed with time. After World War II, most adopted children were from Europe and Korea. In 2001, 25% of American children adopted internationally came from China and 22% came from Russia (Ambert, 21). Ambert notes that approximately 90% of the adopted children are under the age of 5, therefore North Americans who wish to adopt young children often find adopting internationally more likely to result in adopting a young child than would be the case within their country. The author also discusses how adopting internationally is attractive to North Americans not only because of a shortage of infants in North America, but also because of the certainty that birth parents will not return to claim their children. Ambert suggests that these adoptions carry a greater sense of finality. Ambert notes that, although biomedical knowledge about the birth families is scarce in international adoptions adoptive parents are also aware that they will not have to contend with reunions with birth parents in the future. Anne-Marie Ambert is an Associate Professor with the Department of Sociology at York University. Full text available at www.arts.yorku.ca/soci/ambert/writings/adoption.html. This summary was prepared in 2003 by Inter-country Adoption Services (www.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/hrib/sdd-dds/cfc/content/interAdopt.shtml) at the federal Department of Social Development. |
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