Adoption, Blood Kinship, Stigma, and the Adoption Reform Movement: A Historical Perspective

Constructing Interracial Families Through Intercountry Adoption*

“…The number of adoptions from Latin American countries is also rapidly increasing (Kenney and Ortman, 2005). It also seems very plausible that agencies (or families) still steer adopting parents toward children of the same race when those options exist (Carp, 2002a).…”

Narrating connection in intercountry adoption: Complexities of openness in Taiwan‒Australia adoptions

“…There is a growing literature on experiences of adult adoptees who search and find their birth families and seek a 'reunion' or ongoing relationship (Kim, 2010;van Wichelen, 2017;Yngvesson, 2003Yngvesson, , 2010. From the 1980s, adult adoptees in the US started organising themselves politically and, supported by birth mothers, initiated protests and legal actions to open sealed adoption records (Carp, 1998(Carp, , 2002Modell & Schachter, 2002). Recently, more and more adoptees have been turning to DNA testing companies to find out information about their birth parents and to learn about any genetic predispositions for particular diseases (Swarns, 2012).…”

“Someone Who Looks Like Me”. Search for Origin and Adoptive Kinship in Italy

“…So, the government advisers suggested a meticolous surveillance against the alteration of birth information, since "every person has the right to know who he is and where his people are" (Carp, 1998, p.52). Therefore, the original aim was not to deny the access to the information to adoptees -for whom the information was only confidential and not secret -but to protect their biological mothers from the social stigma (Carp, 2002). The process by which the confidentiality turned into secrecy was quite complex, and it seems in some way connected with the spread and increased disciplinary power (in foucaultian sense) of social professions.…”