ADOPTION

the act of establishing a person as parent to one who is not in fact or in law his child. Adoption is so widely recognized that it can be characterized as an almost worldwide institution with historical roots traceable into antiquity. In most ancient civilizations and in certain later cultures as well, the purposes served by adoption differed substantially from those emphasized in modern times. Continuity of the male line in a particular family was the main goal of these ancient adoptions. The importance of the male heir stemmed from political, religious, or economic considerations, depending on the culture. The person adopted invariably was male and often adult. In addition, the welfare of the adopter in this world and the next was the primary concern; little attention was paid to the welfare of the one adopted. In contrast, contemporary laws and practices aim to promote child welfare and are regarded as one facet of the state's general program to protect its young. Although the desire to continue a family line or to secure rights to inheritance are still among the personal motives for adoption, society's interest now centres more on the creation of a parent-child relationship between a married couple and a young child. This attitude developed primarily in the period following World War I, when vast numbers of children were orphaned, and the number of illegitimate births increased. The desirability of adoption was further emphasized by developments in psychology and sociology that stressed the influence on child development of a stable family life. In the latter part of the 20th century, a decline in the number of children available for legal adoption stimulated changes in traditional restrictions on adult-child age differential, level of income, the mother's employment outside the home, and placements across religious and ethnic lines. Single-parent adoptions were accepted by a number of agencies. Although adoption of adults is permitted in most countries, the legal provisions are generally formulated in terms of child adoption, and the adopter must usually be an adult. The laws typically provide for the consent of any older child (commonly one over 12 or 14 years), an investigation of the suitability of the prospective home according to criteria stated in the governing statute, and a probationary period of residence in the adoptive home. In the matter of inheritance, laws differ considerably. As a general rule, the child may inherit from the adopting parents and they from him. Inheritance by the child from his natural parents, once commonplace, is increasingly prohibited, with the exception of adoption by stepparents. In addition, there has been a tendency to broaden the child's right to inherit from relatives of the adopting parents, although great variation appears among laws on this point.