ABSTRACT
In many European countries almost all adoptions are intercountry adoptions. Excluding intercountry adoption, adoption is relatively unusual in most countries compared to the US and the UK, though it is growing in some. The post-war surge in adoptions in the US led to a dilution of the idea that adoption is a replication of the natural family. Transracial, intercountry and older-child adoptions increased. From the 1970s in the US, the secrecy hitherto surrounding adoption diminished and it became more common for birth parents to know the identity of the adoptive parents and even retain some contact with the child. England and Wales has a reputation for using adoption as a route out of ‘care’ by the welfare authorities more than other European countries. Both in law and in practice, adoption traditionally has included two basic events: the termination of the birth parents’ custodial rights and the adoption procedure resulting in the permanent placement of the child with the adoptive parents.
