ABSTRACT
Thirty-fi ve years ago I was opposed to adoption. Like many oppositional stances, my aversion was largely based on feelings derived from unconsidered prejudice. My cultural origins permitted a considerable variety of family structures but considered adoption as a means for rich people who wanted a family to take over, and take ownership, of the children of the poor. This cultural prejudice was rationalised through my observation that adopted children seemed to be overrepresented in the population of children I came across as a social worker in a child guidance clinic. And it was reinforced by the discovery that the dominant theme in such referrals was the unacceptable behaviour of the children, with responses in the adoptive parents of overwhelming sadness, anger and disappointment.
