ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the specific type of migration represented by international adoption. The transnational movement of international adoptees within the broader context of unequal global flows and shifting historical and geopolitical conditions is discussed. Transnational adoption is a product of the conditions that compel birth parents to relinquish their children for adoption, or result in parental deaths that leave children without parents. In addition, sending and receiving countries that regulate adoption practices, and the reception of adoptees can differ from country to country, particularly in relation to the racial and cultural politics shaping the racialization of adoptees. An overview of the cultural and political economy of transnational adoption, illuminating the complex and shifting historical and geopolitical contexts that produce adoption flows, is also provided. In addition, concerns about the commodification and trafficking of children and critiques of adoption as a forced diaspora are raised. The topics discussed include the history of transnational adoption, the distinguishing characteristics of adoptees versus other immigrants, academic critiques of transnational adoption, questions of adoptee belonging within the nation, and the various ways that metaphors of kinship are used to incorporate adoptees into families.
