Adoption has long been framed as a solution for both people seeking to build families and for children in need of homes. However, positioning adoption as a family planning tool decenters the needs of adoptees and the rights of birth parents, undermining the broader principles of reproductive justice.
The Reproductive Justice Framework
The reproductive justice movement, coined by Black and Indigenous women activists in the 1990s, shifts the focus away from the concept of “choice” in reproduction, and considers context and accessibility. The focus of the reproductive justice movement is to connect rights to services, with attention paid to the impact of inequality (Ross & Sollinger, 2017). Reproductive justice advocates for the right to have children, not have children, parent children in safe, sustainable environments, and the right to sexual autonomy and gender freedom.
Adoption as a substitute for comprehensive reproductive healthcare pressures birth parents, especially those from low-income or marginalized backgrounds, into making decisions based on economic need rather than choice. Birth mothers often report they don’t have economic or other resources that could create the environmental circumstances that would make relinquishment a true choice (Sisson, 2002). Reproductive justice advocates argue that access to abortion, contraception, and parenting resources is necessary to ensure people are not coerced into relinquishing their children due to poverty, lack of support or resources.
Adoption and the Mental Health of Adoptees
Research shows that adoptees experience unique mental health challenges compared to their non-adopted peers. Juffer and van Jzendoorn’s (2005) meta-analysis found that adopted children generally show small differences in emotional and behavioral issues compared to non-adopted peers, with most adoptees being well-adjusted.
However, adopted children and adolescents are at heightened risk for mental health issues due to early life stressors, such as prenatal substance exposure, abuse, and neglect, which can impact brain development related to socioemotional functioning. Pre-adoptive risk factors, especially for older adoptees or those with prolonged institutional care, are linked to increased mental health challenges. For instance, the rates of suicide attempts for adolescents are approximately four higher in adoptees than in non-adoptees. The narrative that adopted children automatically receive a “better life” isn’t supported by data, as socioeconomic advantages for foster-care adoptees don’t equate to better well-being (Bill & Bramlett, 2014).
Some adult adoptees report that post-adoption experiences and the lived experience of being adopted can be traumatic, especially when adoptive parents are unprepared, abusive, or neglectful. Other negative experiences include feelings of loss, lack of belonging, and physical or cultural differences from adoptive families (Brodzinsky, Gunnar, & Palacios, 2022).
Despite advances in understanding adoptees’ psychosocial needs, data on adult adoptees’ mental health remains limited. A review of 27 studies shows higher levels of depression, anxiety, and behavioral disorders among adult adoptees than non-adoptees, with outcomes influenced by factors like attachment and parenting styles (Melero & Sánchez-Sandoval, 2017).
Adoption can also disrupt identity and belonging, especially for transracial adoptees, who may experience cultural alienation and struggle with self-identity due to separation from biological family, culture, and ethnicity.
Coercion and Adoption: A Critical Issue
Historically, adoption practices in the U.S. have involved coercion, particularly targeting low-income women, young mothers, single mothers, and women of color. In many cases, women have been pressured to place their children for adoption due to societal stigma around single motherhood, lack of financial resources, or limited access to abortion services.
The concept of “family planning” should empower people to make informed and uncoerced decisions about parenting or not parenting. However, when adoption is promoted as a solution to unplanned pregnancies, it can subtly pressure vulnerable individuals into relinquishing their parental rights.
Adoption as a Market
When adoption is framed as a tool for family planning, it can commodify children. Adoption is a business industry, handled primarily in the private sector with little to no regulation while different entities such as agencies, lawyers, and baby brokers may make money off of pressuring vulnerable birth mothers to in a sense sell their babies.
The adoption process in many countries, including the U.S., often involves high fees, waiting lists, and preferences for certain types of children, such as newborns or children from specific racial backgrounds. This demand creates a market-like environment where children are viewed as resources to meet the desires of adoptive parents, rather than as individuals with rights and needs of their own.
This commodification is particularly troubling when it involves international or transracial adoption, where children are removed from their birth countries and cultures to meet the demand for adoptable children in wealthier nations. It is largely because of this that the rates of international adoption have declined dramatically since 2015. Due to concerns about the trafficking of children, unethical adoption practices, and changing beliefs that children should grow up with their biological family or at least be adopted within their own country, some countries have opted out of the international adoption market.
Alternatives to Adoption: Strengthening Families
Rather than promoting adoption as a first-line solution, society should focus on creating conditions where people do not feel forced to place their children for adoption due to poverty or lack of support.
Kinship care models can provide alternatives that emphasize family preservation. Kinship care allows children to stay within their extended families, maintaining their cultural and familial ties, which is often less disruptive to a child’s identity and well-being. Kinship care is a centuries-old practice that, although it isn’t free of problems, does offer an adoptee-centric option for children.
A reproductive justice framework challenges us to rethink how society supports families and addresses reproductive healthcare. By centering the needs and rights of both birth parents and adoptees, we can move toward a more just and compassionate approach to family building.
