How is the United States' adoption system flawed?

Question

American parents adopting American children only, not from foreign counties. Please cite your sources. Thank you.

Answer 1

Where do I begin???

Let's see. The first major flaw is the expense in the US to adopt. Every step of the process is another fee...from fingerprints, to home studies, to agency fees, etc. Many people (such as myself) are hesitant to use the foster care program because the state's objective is to reunite biological families. I could not fall in love with a child only to have the state return the child to his/her biological parent.

Also, another flaw is that the government does not protect adoptive parents enough. Too many times you read in the news where a biological parent is somehow suing to get their child back. The government is trying to improve this, but it is still a flaw that is quite evident in the system.

I also believe that another major flaw is the discrimination associated with adoption. Biological parents are entitled to more things than adoptive parents. Maternity leave is a good example of this. When we were adopting, I was not entitled to any paid time off. I had to take my 2 weeks vacation and then could take another 10 weeks of unpaid family leave if I chose. However, a co-worker who was giving birth at the same time, received 12 weeks PAID maternity leave and then was allowed to take 12 weeks of unpaid leave if she chose.

Thanks for letting me vent - this is a subject quite dear to me.

Answer 2

I don't know anything about adopting children from America only vs adopting children from other countries. However, I do know one of the biggest flaws in the American adoption system is not having accurate medical information regarding the children. Family medical history is something adopted kids don't have. This makes it very difficult for people as they grow; do I have heart disease in my family?, is cancer an issue?, was my mother or father an alcoholic?

Answer 3

The document you refer to may be old, but it is truly great. It's one of the most wise legal documents in the history of man. It is left open-ended by design, our Framers and Founding Fathers wanted the Constitution and Bill of Rights to be relevant to all times. They wanted us to define the articles according to our times. The Constitution is also hard-to-edit in it's design, so that it's more difficult for partisan politicians to push something like "gay marriage" or "abortion" or some other malleable issue doesn't pockmark our Constitution like it did with the 18th amendment. What would you change it to anyhow? Wholly uninterpretable language that only causes problems? Allowing for issues that call for such are taken care of in law so that if they come under fire they can be fairly easily repealed (well, at least more-so than a Constitutional amendment). The solution isn't revision, it's honoring and holding true what we have.

Answer 4

One of the biggest flaws is that the biological mom has 6 months to change her mind about the adoption. This is 6 months that the baby has bonded with their adoptive parents, and by this age most babies are starting to say "Dada". I think that is cruel, and when a bio-mom does this she is not clearly thinking about the welfare of the baby, only her own selfish needs.

Answer 5

The United States do not have an adoption system. Each of the 50 states has their own system which conforms to that particular states laws and customs. That being said I do not believe you have posted a valid question.

Answer 6

I was adopted and the only big problem my parents had was that it took them 13 years to adopt me. The wait list was exceptionally long since they didn't want a child who was a product of a rape or incest.