Adoption : [electronic resource] opposing viewpoints / Andrew Harnack, book editor.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 296-298) and index.

Debates issues concerning the adoption of children, presenting arguments both in favor of and against adopting.

Adoption is a violent act / Joss Shawyer -- Adoption is an act of compassion / Marvin Olasky -- The orphanage system should be reestablished / Charles D. Aring -- The orphanage system should not be reestablished / The North American Council on Adoptable Children -- Preserving biological families should be encouraged / Nanette Schorr -- Creating more adoption possibilities should be encouraged / Elizabeth Bartholet -- The rights of birth mothers must be protected / Concerned United Birthparents -- The rights of birth fathers must be protected / Paul Sachdev -- The rights of adoptive parents must be protected / Hal Aigner -- In the "baby Jessica" case, the court was right / Carole Anderson -- In the "baby Jessica" case, the court was wrong / Mary Beth Style -- Gays and lesbians should have the right to adopt children / Carole Cullum -- Single adults should be encouraged to adopt children / Vic Groze -- Surrogate mothers should help childless couples have children / Elizabeth Hirschman -- More residential communities should care for children / Mary-Lou Weisman -- Informal adoptions should be supported / Charmaine Yoest -- Foreign adoptions should be discouraged / Kenneth J. Herrmann Jr. & Barbara Kasper -- Foreign adoptions should be encouraged / Elizabeth Bartholet -- Transracial adoptions should be forbidden / Audrey T. Russell -- Transracial adoptions should be encouraged / Rita J. Simon, Howard Altstein & Marygold S. Melli -- Special needs adoptions should be promoted / Judith K. McKenzie -- Special needs adoptions should be reevaluated / Katharine Davis Fishman -- An open adoption policy is best / Annette Baran & Reuben Pannor -- A sealed adoption policy is best / A. Dean Byrd -- Myths about adoption should be dispelled / Peter L. Benson & Anu Sharma -- Adoptees searching for birth parents should be helped / Arthur D. Sorosky, Annette Baran & Reuben Pannor -- The courts should do more to protect adoptive families / Harvard Law Review -- Adoption agencies must provide more post-adoption services / Kenneth W. Watson -- Unnecessary barriers to special needs adoption must be eliminated / Lynn G. Gabbard.