Cultural Variations In Adoption
Adoption is an arrangement by which a child whose biological parents are unable to care for it is "adopted" and given the same legal and social status as though he/she were the biological child of the adoptive parents. For example, under a system of adoption, if a parent dies intestate, the adopted child stands in exactly the same position regarding inheritance as a biological child. In adoption systems, the child can also inherit the parent's hereditary rank. Thus, in pre-modern Japan, which had a system of true adoption, a child could inherit the parent's aristocratic title or samurai rank, whereas in England, which only introduced legal adoption in 1926, only a biological child could inherit an aristocratic title. This does not negate the fact that English families often reared, cared for, loved and provided for parentless children. It is only to point out that adoption is a specific legal arrangement within the many kinds of wardship or guardianship or fostering practiced worldwide. While all societies make provision for the rearing of children whose own parents are unavailable to rear them, not all cultures use adoption.
Read more about Cultural Variations In Adoption: Arab, Korea, Africa, India, Polynesia, Tikopia
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“Frankly, I adore your catchy slogan, “Adoption, not Abortion,” although no one has been able to figure out, even with expert counseling, how to use adoption as a method of birth control, or at what time of the month it is most effective.”
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