Adoption Is a Boon to Birth Parents, Term Paper

Adoption is a boon to birth parents, their children, and to adoptive parents. In many cases, all three parties involved in the process plus secondary parties like relatives and society at large, benefit by an easy adoptive process. As more and more couples turn to adoption as a solution to an inability to bear children or as an alternative to natural childbirth, raising a number of ethical questions. On the one hand, adoption is inherently amoral: an unwanted child needs a home and a willing, competent family or individual is able to provide the necessary love and care. However, beneath that rests a host of issues, including the right of the birth mother or father to contact the child; the right of the adoptive parent(s) to glean genetic or other information about the biological parents; and the right of the child to know about his or her birth parents. In some cases, access to the birth mother and father's health records could be essential to the well-being of the child. For example, the child might be susceptible to some kind of genetic illness or predisposed to mental health problems like addiction. Even in cases where no medical condition is suspected, access to the records of the birth mother may be simply a matter of concern or curiosity. When a mother gives up her child for adoption, she does relinquish some if not all of her rights to be with her child. For example, it would be completely unethical to wrest the child from his or her adoptive home: not only the child but the adoptive parents and siblings would be adversely affected by such a move. However, the birth mother did carry the child to term and therefore shares an intimate connection with the child even if she chose not to raise it. In some cases, the adoptive and birth parents make a verbal or contractual agreement to stay in touch so that both birth and adoptive parents can be a part of the child's life.Situations like these are rare but not totally unheard of. When the ethics of adoption are considered as a whole, the rights and needs of all parties concerned should be taken into account so that no prejudices or biases prevent the formation of loving relationships.

A balanced view of adoption is the key to forming an ethical vision or policy of adoption, and each case should be considered separately. There can be no hard, fast rules guiding the formation of public policy. In some cases, allowing the birth mother to contact her child could be detrimental to all parties. If the birth mother is, for example, capable of harming the child or kidnapping the child, disastrous results could ensue. This is an extreme example; more common occurrences would include the intense emotional trauma faced by all parties. The birth mother might feel utter shame and guilt upon meeting or even just speaking on the phone to the child she gave up. If she is already prone to depression or addiction, such an emotional burden could become unbearable and detrimental to her health. Similarly, the child, no matter how old and even if already an adult, could experience….....