Family Matters: Secrecy and Disclosure in the History of Adoption (Paperback)

by E. Wayne Carp (Author) "Because of the decision by the federal government in 1975 to stop collecting statistics on adoption, Americans today can only guess at how many children..." (more)
Key Phrases: adoption rights movement, adoption case records, sealed adoption records controversy, New York, Children's Bureau, World War (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Do adoptees have the right to the identities of their biological parents? Carp traces the complicated history of adoption and attitudes to it to show how and why attitudes changed. Adoption of children not related by blood was not common in this country until the 20th century. And while adoption proceedings were usually conducted with "discretion," they were not legally confidential. It wasn't until the Progressive Era that reformers, hoping to remove the socialAand (thanks to eugenicists) biologicalAstigma of illegitimacy, successfully pressed for legal secrecy. After WWII, confidentiality gave way to obsessive secrecy as adoption officials feared biological parents might interfere with the new adoptive family and adoptive parents feared the insecurity and stigma of telling an adopted child the truth. But in the 1960s and '70s, changing sexual mores diminished the shame of illegitimacy and the adoption rights movement (ARM) rebelled against decades of sealed records, demanding instead openness and disclosure in adoption. Through the 1980s and '90s, the traditional secretive adoption became increasingly vilified, with wrongful adoption lawsuits and the "Baby M" custody case. But, as Carp notes, ARM's desire for complete openness in adoption records has come against "an insuperable obstacle"Abirth mothers' right to privacy. The most fascinating aspect of this very accessible study is the ups and downs of the often questionable belief in the primacy of blood ties. Bringing clarity, historical perspective and objectivity, historian Carp offers a book that deserves the attention of anyone with an interest in adoption.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal
In this lucid and thought-provoking book, Carp reviews the controversies surrounding the management of adoption records in the United States. Identifying the concerns of adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive parents, Carp surveys changing social attitudes toward the importance of family history, governmentally dictated secrecy, and the recognition of often conflicting rights of everyone involved in the adoption triad. Over the decades, government-supported, legally mandated concealment has prevailed, but the rise of search and reunion groups, adoption registries, newsletters, Internet bulletin boards, and web sites as well as experimental consensual open adoptions are beginning to force the records open. The debate continues (see, e.g., Katarina Wegar, Adoption, Identity, and Kinship, LJ 4/1/97), and Carp makes an important contribution. Highly recommended for academics, professionals, and the interested public.?Suzanne W. Wood, SUNY Coll. of Technology, Alfred
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press; 1 edition (April 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674001869
• ISBN-13: 978-0674001862
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #745,474 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's a necessary read, and a necessary purchase., June 2, 2001

By	Christopher K. Philippo (Troy, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Carp has a lot of great information about adoption agencies' and social workers' policies concerning the release of birth and adoption information to adult adoptees. It was fascinating to see all the quotes regarding their acceptance of adoptees' desire for identifying information up until the 1950s or so.

However, when it comes to information regarding the legislative histories of sealed birth and adoption records laws, he has little to contribute, and some of his information is wrong. Additionally, he seems to take it for granted that biological mothers in recent decades were promised absolute perpetual anonymity from their relinquished and subsequently adopted offspring, but this baseless assumption goes undocumented in his book (since it is, after all, an absolutely false assertion).

That said (or rather, written), for those who want further insight into the issue of sealed versus open birth and adoption records, this book is not just a necessary read, but a necessary purchase.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two books in one -- both tops!, November 9, 2001

By A Customer

As a historian, I must compliment Professor Carp for his work on a topic that is seldom treated in a serious, academic fashion. His book is actually two chapters in the American adoption story. Chapter one tells us that the context of the times was such that adoption was never really favored, especially by social workers. That observation helps explain the current antipathy toward adoption by the inheritors of that bias. Chapter two debunks the "Adoption Reform Movement" in such a fashion that a sensible person would discard most of the books in most libraries based on the fallacies Carp describes. I'm not really into the various battles that seem to be raging in the adoption world but I applaud this incredible, sound piece of historical research. I know that historians who pick it up will be impressed. One can only hope that a few social workers will also read it.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but flawed, March 21, 2003

By	an academic (New York United States) - See all my reviews

Carp's book has some interesting info, but he shoots himself in the foot by decrying the lack of hard scientific evidence and research on the part of any group whose arguments HE doesn't like. After all, the book makes clear that almost NO ONE on ANY side of the sealed records debate has hard scientific evidence and research about anything concerning adoption, trauma, etc. Also, his constant use of the words "emotional," "drama," and "therapeutic entertainment" when he discusses adoptees in search (most of whom are female) and birthmothers is suspicious to the point of smelling like misogyny. This book tried to be even-handed, but the lack of gendered analysis renders many of his insights useless to any ongoing project of justice and ethics in adoption.