Adoption has become a more popular alternative for couples that are looking to start their own family. There are couples in this world that are unable to have their own children, but still want to have a family. There are also people in this world that believe there are already children that need homes, so they choose to adopt instead. No matter the circumstances, most adoptive parents are unaware of the psychological concerns that can come with being adopted. According to The Adoption History Project, "adoption was first recognized as a social and legal operation for a child in 1851 by the state of Massachusetts after it passed the first modern adoption law." (The Adoption History Project. Wired Humanities Project. Feb. 2012. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.) This law known as the 1851 Adoption of Children Act was a major turning point. This allowed for adoptions to be "fit and proper" for all parties involved. By the early 1900s, a law was passed in the state of Minnesota "requiring children and adults to be investigated and adoption records to be shielded from public view." (The Adoption History Project. Wired Humanities Project. Feb. 2012. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.) Since then, practically all the states in the country have altered and revised their laws to protect the child's welfare. The Adoption History Project states that in 1950, children being adopted expanded "beyond 'normal' children to include other, disabled, non-white, and other children with special needs." (The Adoption History Project. Wired Humanities Project. Feb. 2012. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.) This has allowed for a broader range of children to be adopted and kept out of Foster Care. The Adoption History Project believes that "adoption has been decisively changed by laws, public policy and cultural change which has altered Americans' ordinary lives and families in which they live and love." While want it means to be a family hasn't changed, what a family looks like has. Even though this statement is true, there is still much debate on how a family should be formed.

Transracial adoptions began in the United States at the end of World War II when thousands of children needed homes, according to Andrew Morrison. (Transracial Adoption: The Pros and Cons and the Parents' Perspective. Harvard Blackletter Law Journal Vol. 20, 2004. Web. 14 April 2014.) The first Black child to be adopted into a white family was first recorded in 1948 in Minnesota. Since then, Americans have become more open to the idea of transracial adoptions in the United States. However, that is not to say that the same people are open to international adoptions as well.

Many people have criticized the idea of an international adoption ever since it became an alternative option for prospective adopting parents. People believe that parents should adopt from their own country. Parents that choose to adopt internationally do because they are open to the idea of raising a child from another country. Many children are in need of homes, but when it comes to where you are adopting from, it is a personal choice. The main issue people have with international adoptions is that families are being made from different ethnic heritages, resulting in a noticeable difference to the public. According to Peter Conn, author of the article The Politics of International Adoption, "the World Health Organization reports more than ten million children under five years old  --  most of them in developing countries  --  die each year from violence, malnutrition or disease." (The Politics of International Adoption. Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective. Jan. 2008. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.) He breaks this down for us saying that, "Every day, the toll of children's lives equals ten times the number of died in the World Trade Towers, and each week matches the total of fatalities in the 2004 Asian tsunami." These numbers are significant and all these children need is to find stability and a healthy environment and home for them to survive and possibly live in. All adoptions, no matter the type, involve disruption, loss and mourning. However, adoption offers a substantially better outcome for children that have been abandoned, keeping them off the streets and out of orphanages. International adoptions have the ability to change what it means to be a family. Peter Conn says that, "multiethnic adoptive families are sites of constant ethnographic instruction: they offer routine access to cultural knowledge and experiences that lie outside the usual domestic interactions." (The Politics of International Adoption. Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective. Jan. 2008. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.) This allows for people to learn about different cultures. Around the world there are an estimated 153 million orphans who have lost one parent. According to the website Childinfo.org, there are 17,900,000 orphans who have lost both parents and are living in orphanages or on the streets and lack the care and attention required for healthy development. These children are at a higher risk of disease, malnutrition and even death. (Orphan Estimates. Childinfo.org. Apr 2013. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.)

On the other side of the argument, people believe that American citizens should be banned from adoption children internationally because there is currently a great need from adoption domestically. According to the Children's Bureau programs and resources, 408,425 children are in the foster care system and are waiting to be adopted. 8,668 children were adopted into the United States in 2012 according to the Annual Report of Inter-country Adoptions. People believe that we are Americans have a responsibility to help all American citizens, orphans included, before we take into account problems of other nations. Adopting internationally has negative and unintended effects and may not be in the best interest of the child. People who are against international adoptions would say that children in foster care are being deprived of a loving family, which is an essential element to living a balanced and stable life. While this is a valid argument, there are far more children in orphanages and living on the streets around the world than there are children in Foster Care. This, along with USA Today reporting that the number of foster-care kids waiting to be adopted dropped from 106,345 in September of 2011 to 101,719 in September of 2012 shows that the Foster Care system is improving and children are being adopted from the system. (Adoption Numbers Rising For Kids in Foster Care. USA Today. Aug. 2013. Web. 14 April, 2014.) Unfortunately, there are a large number of children who are 'unadoptable'. This can be caused from a great deal if things, such as past drug addictions or even criminal records. For children like this who statistically will remain in the system until adulthood, there are options such as the 'CORE' program from which 79% of the programs graduates go onto college. CORE is a national nonprofit organization "that serves children and youth from disadvantaged backgrounds through residential education programs and schools." (CORE. Web. 14 April 2014.) It is a community like setting where children and youth can come together in a stable, supportive community. This is a great option for children in foster care that need support and care.

Why, if someone decides to adopt, should there choices be limited to inter-country adoptions? We as American citizens have the basic right to procreate. Placing a higher burden on those who can't naturally conceive to adopt only children in the United States breaches several human rights. Most people who internationally adopt do so either because the American system has failed to find them a suitable match or because they have some link to the child or country. What many people do not realize about adopting internationally rather than domestically is that the cost for adopting internationally does not differ from adopting domestically. This seems to be one of the main reasons why people decide to adopt internationally rather than domestically but what they do not understand is that both international and domestic adoptions come with a price. The American Adoptions' article, Domestic vs. International Adoption, says that basically when adopting internationally, couples must be aware that they might have to travel and stay in the country they are adopting from for a period of time that could range from a few days to several weeks. Multiple visits could also be required and must budget into their expenses getting a visa. Likewise, domestic adoptions also come with a price. The couple may be asked to pay for certain expenses that otherwise would not be asked if it was an international adoption. If the baby is born outside the adoptive family's state, the family must stay until ICPC (Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children) approval has been granted which could take seven to ten days to complete. This is to make sure that "the children who are placed across state lines for foster care or adoption receive adequate protection and support services." (Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children. Department of Social Services. Web. 14 April 2014.)

One of the deciding factors as whether to adopt internationally or domestically is the issue of medical history. Medical records for children adopted internationally are very rare. Family medical history or any possible exposure to drugs and alcohol during pregnancy is usually unavailable which is something adopting parents must highly consider. Couples adopting domestically can usually be provided with the medical records of the child and the family medical history. Not all countries' medical facilities and treatments are up to speed with that of the United States. Each adoption stories is different so it can be difficult to make the decision based on other people's personal experiences.

There are many benefits to adopting internationally. In 2010, the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile left thousands of children orphaned. According to a Newsweek article, "weeks after the earthquake in Haiti, a group of American missionaries were arrested on charges of child-trafficking" and many Haiti's orphans since that arrest have continued to come across the borders. (The Benefits of International Adoption. Newsweek. July 2010. Web. 10 April 2014.) While race and ethnicity are worth consideration, they should not be the deciding factors in any adoption. According to Andrew Morrison, "Numerous studies show that transracially adopted children are able to develop positive self-esteems and sense of racial identity. These studies show that transracially adopted children are able to feel as good about themselves and their race as children in same-race placements, and even children raised by their biological parents." (Transracial Adoption: The Pros and Cons and the Parents' Perspective. Harvard Blackletter Law Journal Vol. 20, 2004. Web. 14 April 2014.) Some people find it hard to imagine that white parents are capable of raising emotionally healthy black, Asian and Hispanic children. It goes without saying that it also applies to children from another country. People who are against international adoptions argue that "the supply of Third-World infants is not a natural occurrence but a respond to the demand of adoption markets in the West for child-trafficking." (The Benefits of International Adoption. Newsweek. July 2010. Web. 10 April 2014.) Even after child trafficking is taken out of the equation, there are still millions of infants waiting to be adopted abroad than there are in the United States. As stated before, most parents choose international adoption only after the United States adoption agencies has made it more difficult for them to adopt. Birth parents change their minds at the last minute and/or ask for "stringent and sometimes arbitrary requirements" making the domestic adoptions much more complicated and difficult. (The Benefits of International Adoption. Newsweek. July 2010. Web. 10 April 2014.) What matters most in an adoption is not where the child is from but whether the child will be placed in a loving, caring and responsible home where he or she can be loved and nurtured, regardless of race or nationality. This is not to say that the child's culture should be overlooked.  It is important that the child, especially an infant, is reminded of their cultural heritage and where they came from. It is important to understand the child's heritage and language and to incorporate some of that into their life style.

It is argued that international or transracial adoptions cam actually help our society. They believe that "it helps alleviate societal racism and racial tension." (Transracial Adoption: The Pros and Cons and the Parents' Perspective. Harvard Blackletter Law Journal Vol. 20, 2004. Web. 14 April 2014.) The adopting parents, the children, friends and family will all quickly have to learn that Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, etc. and whites deserve equal treatment. When the public sees a white family with a child from a different race, it shows that everyone can love each other, no matter what the race of the child or parents are. Just because they do not look alike, does not mean that they can't love each other. There are thousands of qualified white parents that are waiting to adopt, and there are thousands of children around the world that need loving homes. By allowing white families to adopt internationally, it teaches them a completely new culture. As Andrew Morrison says, "it will likely provide the parents and the children with the ability to integrate into other cultures in their careers or socially." (Transracial Adoption: The Pros and Cons and the Parents' Perspective. Harvard Blackletter Law Journal Vol. 20, 2004. Web. 14 April 2014.) As the child gets older, the more the parents are able to learn and can help the child remember his or her cultural heritage. International adoptions have the potential to make a difference in how people view other parts of the world. It can help lead to a more productive, healthier society instead of having a prejudice and racist society. No matter what you may believe, when you hold an infant for the first time, you will love and care for that child no matter what. You don't see his or her skin color, but instead you see someone that you will love and cherish the rest of your life. It is selfish for us to discriminate against other countries because we believe the children in our foster care system are more important. That is not to say that they should be over looked, but there are children around the world that need just as much love and care as those in the foster care system here. People from all around the world come to the United States in search for the "American Dream". By adopting internationally as well as domestically, we can give hope to those children who never thought they could live the "American Dream" and create a more diverse and accepting society.
