The Encyclopedia of Adoption Book

This AtoZ reference addresses all aspects—social, legal, economic, psychological, political—of the modern adoption experience, while providing clear and detailed definitions for the maze of terminology that has arisen. More than 400 entries cover such topics as:

• Statistics on who put children up for adoption and who adopts
• Why the number of couples who want to adopt exceeds the number of babies available
• The psychological effects of adoption
• The impact of child abuse
• The usefulness of support groups.
• The second edition features new and expanded entries on:
• Transracial adoptions, adoptions by gays and lesbians, and international adoptions
• The latest research findings on adolescent adoptees and children adopted from orphanages
• Medical issues, such as cocaine babies, HIV-positive babies, and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
• Legal issues, such as wrongful adoption, updated federal and state laws, and key cases (such as "Baby Richard" and "Baby Jessica")
• Health issues, such as medical record evaluations by physicians
• Plus, extensive, updated appendixes of key resources, including listings of social services offices, adoption agencies, adoptive parent groups, and revised charts and tables of adoption demographics in the U.S.