The Basics of Adoption: A Guide for U.S. and Canadian Families

Since the first edition of "The Basics of Adoption" was published over 20 years ago, there have been earth-shaking changes in adoption in the United States and Canada, developments that prompted the authors to write an updated edition. The two major changes are in international adoptions and in the emergence of transgender children in foster homes awaiting adoption. One study found that while the percentage of transgender children in the general population is around 2 percent, the percentage of transgender children awaiting adoption is around 8 percent.For decades, the United States was where other countries dreamed of sending their children. In 2004, there were almost 23,000 international adoptions in the U.S. But by 2023, the number of international adoptions had dwindled to a little over 2,000 per year. The main reason for that is President Donald Trump. Country after country banned their children from being adopted in the U.S. because of a president they saw as bullying and a threat to world peace. Canada's international adoptions plummeted too, not because of its government, but because of its friendship with the U.S. During World War II, Canada sent troops to fight with the U.S. in both Europe and the Pacific. Today there are only a handful of countries that will allow their children to be adopted by Americans or Canadians. Transgender children became a major component of children available for adoption after they entered the foster home system in increased numbers, primarily the result of violence inflicted upon them by their birth parents after the children announced they felt they were in the wrong bodies. It suggests that prejudice and fear are thicker than blood."The Basics of Adoption" addresses the new international adoption and transgender issues, but it retains all the information from the first edition that guides would-be adoptive parents through the system by informing them of the questions that will be asked in the screening process and by suggesting questions they should ask the adoption agency processing their applications. It also suggest ways to avoid rejection.Despite the positive emotions associated with adoption, it can be a frustrating and intimidating undertaking for the unprepared. This guide, written by a social work screener who has placed hundreds of children into adoptive homes, and a psychologist who had extensive experience with the problems faced by adoptive parents and their children, take the guesswork out of a process that some individuals consider intimidating simply because the process is unlike any other experience they have ever undertaken.