ABSTRACT
The question of whether to discuss with adoptive applicants the reasons for their rejection is fraught with controversy. The effects of not giving adoptive applicants sufficient information about their rejection are varied and troublesome. The writer knows of no adoption agency that has not experienced the pressure and threat of a disappointed couple who want to know why they were rejected. To see the adoptive situation in its proper perspective, workers must imagine themselves in the role of the applicant. Adoption agencies must accept the fact that their images in the minds of many adoptive couples and, for that matter, in the minds of a wide segment of the community, are based on newspaper publicity and accounts of how they have wrenched unfortunate children from the arms of sweet, warm, and generous adoptive parents. Adoptive clients deeply appreciate the worker’s willingness to give them the opportunity of defending themselves when presented with the reasons for rejection.
