Fostering Change: Adoption Timeline

BY CHARLICE BYRD

In Cherokee County, we rely on the Division of Family & Children Services and many private agencies to complete open and closed adoptions and give children a more permanent living arrangement. Although the process can be lengthy and highly challenging, in simpler times finding a baby in a basket and providing it with a home was straightforward. The Bible speaks of adoption with a Hebrew woman named Jochebed, who placed her infant son in a basket and sent him down the river to save him from death. The baby was found by one of Pharaoh’s daughters, who “adopted” the child into the royal family and named him Moses.

In America, the adoption timeline began in the mid-1800s:

• 1851 – The first modern adoption law, the Massachusetts Adoption of Children Act, was passed.

• 1891 – Michigan judges began investigating before entering final adoption decrees, a practice later known as a home study.

• 1910-30 – The first specialized adoption agencies were founded.

• 1948 – The first recorded transracial adoption of an African American child into a Caucasian home.

• 1950s – Home studies became common, although investigations of potential foster and adoptive homes had been going on for many years.

• 1960s – Closed adoptions become more prevalent.

• 1970 – Twentieth century adoption peaked, with approximately 175,000 adoptions finalized annually.

• 1978 – Congress passed the Indian Child Welfare Act, designed to protect Native American children from being removed from their families by public and private agencies.

• 1979 – A gay couple in California became the first in the country known to have adopted a child jointly.

• 2000 – The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 was passed, allowing foreign-born adoptees to become automatic American citizens upon entering the country.

• Today – About 135,000 children are adopted in the U.S. each year. Approximately 95% of adoptions involve some degree of openness or contact between birth parents and adoptive families.

To learn more about adoption, visit http://bit.ly/3X1IVX4.