Introduction: an overview of adoption

This chapter provides a general overview of adoption, from a reference in the world’s oldest legal text the Code of Hummurabi, through to the present. It notes the different definitions of adoption, and its changing purposes: originally as a means of creating heirs for succession purposes; through use as a private law means of transferring legal parentage essentially of babies born to unmarried mothers, and, later, to reconstituting families following divorce; to becoming a predominantly public law means of child protection. It examines the rise of intercountry adoptions, and what this has meant for adoption practice, whilst noting the early signs of its demise in the past decade. In discussing the form and function of adoption, the chapter considers the ongoing challenges in adoption practice, including: adoption without consent; the child’s need for information about origins; the ongoing nature of family ties; treating adoption as an ongoing process; who should be able to adopt; and how the parties’ needs should be balanced and their rights respected. The chapter concludes by posing questions about what the future use of adoption should be.