Kinship by Design: A History of Adoption in the Modern United States

by Ellen Herman

What constitutes a family? Tracing the dramatic evolution of Americans’ answer to this question over the past century, Kinship by Design provides the fullest account to date of modern adoption’s history.            Beginning in the early 1900s, when children were still transferred between households by a variety of unregulated private arrangements, Ellen Herman details efforts by the U.S. Children’s Bureau and the Child Welfare League of America to establish adoption standards in law and practice. She goes on to trace Americans’ shifting ideas about matching children with physically or intellectually similar parents, revealing how research in developmental science and technology shaped adoption as it navigated the nature-nurture debate.            Concluding with an insightful analysis of the revolution that ushered in special needs, transracial, and international adoptions, Kinship by Design ultimately situates the practice as both a different way to make a family and a universal story about love, loss, identity, and belonging. In doing so, this volume provides a new vantage point from which to view twentieth-century America, revealing as much about social welfare, statecraft, and science as it does about childhood, family, and private life.

Genres: Adoption, History, Nonfiction

381 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2008

Reviews

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t think there is a more well-researched book on adoption that exists. And despite my issues with the author’s interjection of personal opinion (and, in my eyes, frequent placating of individuals and adoption agencies) throughout, I just don’t think I can give this book anything less than five stars.

[Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for anyone impacted by adoption or curious about adoption. The origins of the concept of using adoption as family building is clearly illustrated.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good history of adoption, but definitely a history.