It is impossible to call the adoption of children a new or infrequent practice. However, there can be disputes when it comes to the question of whether it is good for children in foster care and people willing to become their new families. This essay argues that child adoption is beneficial to human society since it promotes mutual support, enables vulnerable children to socialize, and helps childless couples to become parents.
To begin with, it is valid to say that the culture of child adoption is fully aligned with the widely recognized values of human society. The adoption of children involves assuming the parenting of others who cannot care for themselves and taking on multiple legal and financial responsibilities associated with raising a child. By encouraging people to become adoptive parents, different child care organizations and the government promote the ideas of well-being and appeal to the willingness to protect those in need, thus reducing inequality.
To some extent, many acts of adoption can be considered as small but meaningful contributions to equality and the establishment of justice. For instance, international adoptions are often seen as an effective “response to the humanitarian crisis” (Khun and Lahiri 22). It is because the procedure is commonly used by wealthier people and allows them to take care of extremely poor or abandoned children from low-income countries, thus saving such children from poverty.
Adopted children get new chances and opportunities thanks to the existence of the discussed procedure. Without adoption, many minors from developing countries would have to live in poverty without any opportunities to travel, see the world, and get acquainted with new cultures (Khun and Lahiri 22). Unfortunately, after being in the care system, adopted children often face significant problems when it comes to interpersonal communication and relationships with adults (Brown et al. 347). However, adopted children tend to have better health outcomes compared to their peers remaining in authority care (McCullough and Mathura 2). With that in mind, adoptions can contribute to vulnerable children’s healthy development.
Apart from benefits for society and vulnerable children, adoptions can be regarded as an important practice when it comes to people with an unmet desire to raise children. In some instances, adopting a child helps couples to alleviate grief and pain resulting from the death of their biological daughters and sons. Adoption is also widely used by couples that cannot conceive children even with the help of assistive reproductive technology (Chandy 104). For some people that suffer because of infertility and wish to have children, adoption can become the only way to experience the joys of becoming a parent and live a full-fledged life (Chandy 104).
Considering that, to understand the positive effects of the discussed phenomenon, it is critical to pay attention to the life circumstances and unmet needs of those expressing the willingness to adopt children from foster care. Thus, adoption is important since it allows some childless couples to fill their lives with meaning and recover from psychological trauma, simultaneously helping unhappy children to succeed in life.
To sum it up, adoption can be viewed as a well-established procedure informed by the best interests of society as a whole since it creates opportunities for mutual help. Children who need care also benefit from the practice of child adoption when it comes to timely and healthy development. Finally, adoption gives new opportunities to childless adults who cannot become parents, thus improving their well-being.
Works Cited
Brown, Andrew, et al. “A Systematic Review of the School Performance and Behavioural and Emotional Adjustments of Children Adopted from Care.” Adoption & Fostering, vol. 41, no. 4, 2017, pp. 346-368.
Chandy, Achamma. “Adoption: An Option in Infertility.” Current Medical Issues, vol. 14, no. 4, 2016, pp. 104-106.
Khun, Channary, and Sajal Lahiri. “The Economics of International Child Adoption: An Analysis of Adoptions by US Parents.” The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, vol. 64, 2017, pp. 22-31.
McCullough, Elaine, and Amy Mathura. “A Comparison Between a Neuro-Physiological Psychotherapy (NPP) Treatment Group and a Control Group for Children Adopted from Care: Support for a Neurodevelopmentally Informed Approach to Therapeutic Intervention with Maltreated Children.” Child Abuse & Neglect, vol. 97, 2019, pp. 1-15.